Who is Andy Burnham’s wife Marie-France van Heel, where did they meet, do they have children?

Following Labour’s devastating council results, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner made reference to Andy Burnham in her statement. Angela Rayner said: “Our party has suffered a historic defeat. Many good Labour colleagues have lost their seats despite working hard for those they represented. We have lost good Labour administrations and lost the chance for more.

“What we are doing isn't working, and it needs to change. This may be our last chance.

“The Labour Party must now live up to our name: we must be the party of working people.

“We've heard the same on the doorstep as we've seen in the polls - the cost of living is the top issue for voters of all parties. People have turned to populists and nationalists because we have not done enough to fix it.

“Living standards are barely higher than they were a decade and a half ago. People feel hopeless - that the cost of living crisis will never end, and now they see oil and gas companies use global instability to post record profits.

“Once again, ordinary people are paying the price for decisions they didn't make. It's no wonder that across the UK, working people feel the system is rigged against them.

“Things can be so much better than this. Countries including Spain and Canada have shown that economies can grow and people can thrive when governments stay true to labour and social democratic values and put people first. We need to learn from that.

“In London, we lost young people who fear they will never afford a home. In my patch and across the north, we lost working people whose wages are too low and costs too high. In Scotland and Wales, people do not currently see Labour as the answer.

“We are in danger of becoming a party of the well-off, not working people.

“The Peter Mandelson scandal showed a toxic culture of cronyism.

“Decisions like cutting winter fuel allowance just weren't what people expected from a Labour government.

“For too long, successive governments have allowed wealth and power to concentrate at the top without a plan to ensure the benefits of economic growth are shared fairly. The result is an economy that does not work for the majority, with wealth concentrated in too few hands. This level of inequality, alongside squeezed living standards, is the outcome of a model built on deregulation, privatisation, and trickle-down economics.

“But we have the chance to fix this.

“We need immediate action to cut costs for households and put money back into the everyday economy. This can be done within the current fiscal rules, by ensuring those who benefit from the crisis contribute more so that everyone can thrive.

“Our Employment Rights Act was just the first step in our plan to Make Work Pay. Now is the time to take the next steps, starting with a Fair Pay Agreement in social care - but not ending there. A rising minimum wage must go alongside our programme to get young people into work.

“The investment we secured in social and affordable housing should now unleash a building boom that benefits British business and workers. We must double down on renters' reform and show leaseholders our action on tackling ground rents and charges was just a first step to ending freehold for good.

“Our devolution revolution has begun, but is nowhere near done.

“Giving mayors powers to transform planning and licensing can boost local business and good growth, in the interests of local people. They must go alongside economic powers and public services.

Angela Rayner went on to specifically name reference Andy Burnham and said: “This is bigger than personalities, but it is time to acknowledge that blocking Andy Burnham was a mistake. We must show we understand the scale of change the moment calls for - that means bringing our best players into Parliament - and embracing the type of agenda that has been successful at a local level, rather than reaching back to an agenda and politics that has failed people.

“These are the fights we need to have, and the change in direction we need to see. Policy tweaks will not fix the fundamental challenges facing our country. This government needs, at pace, to put measures in place that make people's lives tangibly better, while fixing the foundations of a system rigged against them.

“The prime minister must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.

“Change our economic agenda to prioritise making people better off, change how we run our party so that all voices are listened to, and change how we do politics.

“Labour exists to make working people better off. That is not happening fast enough, and it needs to change - now.”

Who is Andy Burnham’s wife?

Andy Burnham is married to Marie-France van Heel who is reportedly known as ‘Frankie.’ The couple met whilst studying at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University and Marie-France Van Heel previously lived in Belgium before moving to the UK for her studies.

When it comes to her own career, Marie-France van Heel has worked for BSkyB, she also had her own company MVH Marketing and went on to become the CEO of Heavenly.

She previously worked for BSkyB and her own firm MVH Marketing was dissolved in 2011 after three years. She then went on to work as CEO of the London-based firm Heavenly, and is now the Chief Customer officer at vehicle charging network Be.Ev.

Andy Burnham and Marie-France van Heel married in 2000 and have three children: a son Jimmy and daughters Rosie and Annie.