UK PM Andy Burnham’s wife quits marketing job to focus on ‘first lady’ duties

Marie-France van Heel, the wife of UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has stepped down from her senior role at a Manchester electric vehicle charging company as she takes on a more active role alongside her husband.Van Heel, 56, had served as chief customer officer at Be.EV since 2024. She will remain on the company’s board in an advisory capacity, Downing Street said.Her decision comes as her schedule increasingly involves accompanying Burnham on official trips and attending events in the UK and overseas.She travelled with the Prime Minister to the United Nations General Assembly in New York earlier this week, where she met Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Diana Carney, the spouse of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.Van Heel also attended a lunch hosted by US First Lady Melania Trump.She is understood to be building relationships with spouses of other world leaders ahead of the UK taking on the G20 presidency next year and the G7 presidency the following year.Her recent engagements have also included accompanying Burnham to the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.She attended the opening of the Bayeux Tapestry, where she met King Charles and Queen Camilla, along with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte.A Downing Street spokesman confirmed her departure from Be.EV.“Marie-France van Heel has taken the decision to step down from her position as chief customer officer at Be.EV,” the spokesman said.“She will continue to serve on the company's board in an advisory role.”The spokesman also said Burnham had already recused himself from decisions concerning EV charging.Burnham and van Heel have continued to divide their time between Downing Street and their home in Warrington since he became Prime Minister.Burnham has previously said he wants to work from No 10 North. According to the Observer, van Heel decided that continuing her Manchester-based role alongside international travel and events in London would be difficult to manage.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.