Andy Burnham’s better half is my kind of woman.

Marie-France van Heel is bright, independent and has her own career and interests. You won’t see her in staged photos looking up at her husband with adoring eyes and mouthing saccharine platitudes. Not because she doesn’t love him, but because she knows him inside and out and married him despite his faults. She’s nobody’s fool and paddles her own canoe.

Crucially in the snake pit world of politics where leaders are betrayed by two-faced cabinet members and backbenchers; while at the same time finding themselves in a No 10 echo chamber with sycophantic aides and flunkies, Burnham can rely on Van Heel (known to pals as Frankie) to always tell him the truth.

This week he revealed in an interview with Elizabeth Day on her How to Fail podcast that Van Heel rolled her eyes when Burnham embarked on his campaign to become Labour leader and Prime Minister. As we know, he had tried and failed twice before, against Ed Milliband and Jeremy Corbyn (I know) so her heartfelt reply of “Not again” sums up the exasperation of a woman who has walked this way before and doesn’t have the bloody energy to do so again. She added for good measure “They’ve told you twice they don’t want you”.

Then there was the time Burnham gave an evasive and woolly interview and received a text from her in capital letters simply saying: “ANSWER THE F**KING QUESTION”. Both are typically blunt and direct responses from a straight-talking woman who takes no crap, but is also fiercely loyal to her husband.

I am sure there was part of her that knew this bid for glory would be Burnham’s last chance at the top job, but also she probably didn’t want him to be hurt and disappointed. And then again maybe she was a bit apprehensive about what it means to be the UK’s........

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