Andy Burnham with Marie-France van Heel/Image: AP
Van Heel, 56, had served as chief customer officer at Be.EV since 2024. Burnham has previously said he wants to work from No 10 North.
She will remain on the company’s board in an advisory capacity, Downing Street said. “Marie-France van Heel has taken the decision to step down from her position as chief customer officer at Be.EV,” the spokesman said. The spokesman also said Burnham had already recused himself from decisions concerning EV charging. Van Heel decided that continuing her Manchester-based role alongside international travel and events in London would be difficult to manage, according to the Observer.
Marie-France van Heel, the wife of UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, has stepped down from her senior role at a Manchester electric vehicle charging company as she takes on a more active role alongside her husband. She attended the opening of the Bayeux Tapestry, where she met King Charles and Queen Camilla, along with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte. Burnham and van Heel have continued to divide their time between Downing Street and their home in Warrington since he became Prime Minister.
She travelled with the Prime Minister to the United Nations General Assembly in New York earlier this week, where she met Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and Diana Carney, the spouse of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.