UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has cancelled official engagements on Monday and Tuesday following the death of his father, Roy Burnham, age 85, who had Alzheimer’s. Burnham had been scheduled to host a meeting of business leaders in Downing Street and speak at the TUC Congress in Brighton. The Prime Minister previously discussed his father’s condition, noting it influenced his drive to reform adult social care and that his father was unaware he had become prime minister.
Burnham described a bittersweet moment when he and his mother exchanged words about his father’s pride, recalling care home staff showing his father footage of his arrival at No. 10. He has spoken of wanting to help “millions like him” through social care reform, and expressed being “overwhelmed” by the professionalism of care workers. Burnham recalled his father, a former telephone engineer, raising him with “laughter, love and support” in Culcheth, Cheshire, emphasizing that his parents’ lack of university education fueled their determination for their sons to attend.
Opposition leaders, including Kemi Badenoch of the Conservative party, Sir Ed Davey of the Liberal Democrats, and Zack Polanski of the Green party, have offered condolences. The Prime Minister’s schedule has been cleared for two days, with First Secretary of State Louise Haigh effectively holding the role of Deputy Prime Minister, despite no official appointment. Haigh was previously forced to resign from a prior Labour government after admitting to misleading police over a false theft report.
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