Marie-France van Heel, the wife of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has resigned from her position as chief customer officer at the electric vehicle charging company Be.EV to focus on supporting her husband full-time. Van Heel, 56, who has over 30 years of experience in marketing and joined Be.EV in 2024, will continue to serve on the company’s board in an advisory capacity, though the Prime Minister has recused himself from any decisions related to the electric vehicle charging sector.

Van Heel recently accompanied Burnham on his first overseas trip as Prime Minister to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. During the visit, she held meetings with several notable figures, including Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, with whom she discussed plans for a “Ukrainian Week” to be hosted in the UK. She also met with Melania Trump, the US First Lady, and Diana Fox Carney, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. These interactions are understood to be part of efforts to establish connections ahead of the UK’s upcoming presidency of the G20 in 2024 and the G7 in 2028.

While the UK does not have an official role equivalent to a "first lady," some spouses of previous prime ministers have taken on varying levels of public support for their partner. Van Heel’s decision to step back from her professional career to assume a more prominent supportive role marks a notable shift. For comparison, Sir Keir Starmer’s wife continued working in the NHS occupational health field during his tenure as Prime Minister, and Cherie Blair maintained her career as a barrister while living at Downing Street. Conversely, Samantha Cameron, spouse of former Prime Minister David Cameron, resigned from her job and engaged in consultancy work part-time.

Andy Burnham and Marie-France van Heel met in 1989 while studying at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, married in 2000, and have three children. Downing Street has characterized Van Heel’s new role as unofficial but influential in supporting the Prime Minister’s domestic and international engagements.