Roy Burnham, the Culcheth telephone engineer and father of Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has died after living with Alzheimer’s disease. Andy Burnham has cancelled engagements on Monday and Tuesday to mourn with his family.
Roy and his wife Eileen raised Andy and their two other sons in Culcheth, building the sort of close-knit home that sounds less like a political origin story and more like the village at its best: familiar faces, strong family ties and plenty of noise from the kitchen.
Roy worked as a telephone engineer, first for the Post Office and later for BT. Andy Burnham has often spoken warmly about growing up in Culcheth, describing the family home as being full of music, life, laughter, love and support
. It is a rather more appealing image of village life than endless arguments about parking, planning applications and whether the high street has enough coffee shops.
In Head North, the 2024 book he co-authored with Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram, Andy Burnham reflected on the influence of his parents. He wrote that neither Roy nor Eileen went to university, but both could have done so had they grown up in a different time and place. Their experience encouraged them to support all three sons into higher education, without becoming pushy parents.
Andy Burnham described their approach as one of quiet encouragement and confidence-building
, saying that the family home in Culcheth was filled with music, life, laughter, love and support
. That kind of steady backing rarely makes dramatic headlines, but it can matter enormously over a lifetime.
In later years, Roy’s Alzheimer’s gave Andy Burnham a deeply personal connection to the social care crisis. He has spoken openly about the strain dementia placed on the family and revealed in an interview with The Times that his father did not understand that his son had become Prime Minister.
That’s a sadness because he would be proud,
Andy Burnham said. The way I look at it, it’s his achievement as well. A whole family achievement although he doesn’t know it.
Roy’s illness has helped shape Andy Burnham’s argument that the social care system needs fundamental reform. In a major speech in July, he spoke about the need to support my dad and the millions like him
who face the shortcomings of the current system.
That criticism is difficult to dismiss. Families dealing with dementia do not need warm words and a maze of forms, they need reliable care, proper funding and a system that does not seem designed to test their stamina. The fact that this remains a political battleground is a failure, not a quirky feature of British administration.
Just weeks before Roy’s death, Andy Burnham discussed care during a visit to Wigan & Leigh Hospice in Hindley. The Prime Minister, who represented neighbouring Leigh for 16 years, told the Leigh Journal on August 22 that the state was not doing enough to support hospices.
The state has to play its part properly in that mix. And I think it’s fair to say it isn’t at the moment,
he said.
He described hospice funding as having always been too ad hoc
and said it needed to be placed on a firmer footing
. Having known Wigan & Leigh Hospice for more than 25 years, he called it a rock at the heart of the borough
and said, I don’t know what we would do without Wigan & Leigh Hospice in this borough.
Dementia UK chief nursing officer Paul Edwards said Andy Burnham had helped highlight the profound impact
dementia can have on families. He expressed the organisation’s condolences and recognised the challenges the Burnham family faced in securing care and support.
Political figures from across Westminster also offered their condolences. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said her thoughts were with Andy Burnham and his family, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described losing a father as profoundly painful, regardless of age or preparation. In the House of Commons, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle also offered his sympathy.
For Culcheth, Roy Burnham’s story is a reminder that behind national politics there are ordinary family homes, parents who quietly shape their children and private struggles that eventually become public causes. The village may have supplied the setting, but Roy and Eileen supplied the foundation.