Prime Minister Andy Burnham has confirmed the death of his father, Roy, who was previously diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Downing Street announced that the PM’s engagements today and tomorrow have been cancelled.
He had been due to host business leaders in No 10 this afternoon.
Tomorrow, he had been scheduled to chair the weekly cabinet meeting and later speak at the Trade Union Congress in Brighton.
Communities Secretary Angela Rayner said, ‘My thoughts are with Andy and his family at this terribly difficult – and sad time,’ and Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle offered his condolences, adding: ‘I am sure the whole House will want to send our best wishes to him and his family at this sad time.’
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Known as Roy, Kenneth Roy Burnham was a former telephone engineer who worked first with the Post Office and then BT. His mother, Eileen, was a GP receptionist.
Roy, who was in his mid-80s, had been living in a care home in the north of England for several years, and the labor leader has spoken openly about his father’s condition.
When he became prime minister, Burnham said his dad was initially unaware of the news, although care home staff noticed he appeared to recognize his son at one point on TV.
Appearing on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast last month, Burnham recalled a ‘wonderful’ moment from visiting his father the Sunday after he was appointed.
Growing tearful, he said it was a matter that made him ‘quite emotional’ as he remembered a manager telling him, ‘We wanted you to know, we all knew kind of what time you might be coming up Downing Street, so we got Roy in his chair, and we got the telly right in front of him, and six of us stood round him, and all said, “Look, Roy! Look, look!”‘
She added that ‘momentarily’, they thought Roy ‘knew’.
And in an interview with The Times on the eve of taking office in July, Burnham revealed the extent of his father’s illness, explaining that his father didn’t know his son was on the brink of leadership.
Charity statements
Paul Edwards, Chief Nursing Officer at Dementia UK, told Metro: ‘We’re deeply sorry to hear that Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s father, Roy Burnham, has died having lived with Alzheimer’s disease. Our thoughts are with him and his family during this difficult time.
‘The Prime Minister spoke candidly about his family’s experience with dementia and the challenges they faced securing the care and support they needed. His openness has helped shine an important light on the profound impact that dementia can have on the whole family, as well as the urgent need to improve dementia care and support.
‘Anyone affected by this news can contact Dementia UK’s free Helpline for support from a dementia specialist Admiral Nurse, including support with grief and bereavement by calling 0800 888 6678 or emailing helpline@dementiauk.org.’
Michelle Dyson CB, CEO at Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘We are deeply saddened by the news that Roy Burnham – the Prime Minister’s father – has died. Kenneth Roy Burnham had been living with Alzheimer’s disease. The loss of a parent leaves an immeasurable gap in our lives. While every family’s experience is unique, many of us understand the long and often challenging journey that Alzheimer’s disease can bring, not only for the person living with the condition but for those who love them.
‘The Prime Minister has been a longstanding advocate for improving the lives of people affected by dementia, often drawing on his father’s experiences. As Mayor of Greater Manchester, he supported dementia-focused initiatives delivered with us, including the expansion of our Singing for the Brain program and ran alongside thousands at the Great North Run for Alzheimer’s Society in 2024. Most importantly, he has consistently used his voice to highlight the urgent need for social care and dementia care reforms.
‘We send our heartfelt condolences to his family and to anyone else who has experienced the heartache of losing someone to dementia. Alzheimer’s Society is here for anyone affected by dementia – visit alzheimers.org.uk or phone our Dementia Support Line on 0333 150 3456.’
‘That’s a sadness because he would be (proud),’ Burnham said.
‘The way I look at it, it’s his achievement as well. A whole family achievement, although he doesn’t know it.’
Both staunch labor supporters, Aintree-born Burnham has long credited his parents for shaping his political values growing up.
In his book, Head North, Burnham described his ‘close-knit’ upbringing alongside his two brothers in the 70s and 80s, penning that neither his mum nor dad went to university.
‘But both could have done if they had grown up in a different time and in a different place.
‘Their knowledge of that fact seemed to make them all the more determined that their three sons would go. But that did not make them pushy parents in any way.’
He praised: ‘Their approach was one of quiet encouragement and confidence-building. Our family home in Culcheth was always full of music, life, laughter, love and support.’
Navigating his father’s health also became one of the driving factors in Burnham’s aim to reform the social care system.
In a major speech over the summer, Burnham promised to help ‘my dad and the millions like him’, who face the unfairness of the current ‘broken’ system.
He added that there are ‘millions of family carers, people like my mum, who try to care for my dad at home, who in the end are actually the main issue’.
‘We discovered as a family, my mum was sinking under the pressure of trying to make it work when the care system couldn’t make it work for her,’ he said, noting that no one should have to sell their home to pay for care in ‘an ideal world’.
Towards the end of the pandemic, Roy was diagnosed with prostate cancer, for which he had ‘intense’ treatment. He was later informed he had developed advanced Alzheimer’s.
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