Andy Burnham breaks down in tears revealing how his Alzheimer's-hit father still doesn't realise his son is Prime Minister

Published: 10:13, 8 August 2026 | Updated: 10:23, 8 August 2026 Andy Burnham says his father, who doesn't know he is Prime Minister because he is suffering from Alzheimer's, may have recognised him as he came into Downing Street as PM thanks to the staff at his care home. Mr Burnham has previously spoken movingly about how his father Roy, a former telephone engineer, is suffering from advanced Alzheimer's and is being cared for in a home in the North. He also revealed ahead of taking up his premiership that this meant Roy did not know his own son was becoming PM. And in an emotional podcast appearance this week, he broke down as he told broadcaster Elizabeth Day that care home staff still ensured Roy was in front of the television as he appeared outside No10 Downing Street, adding they believed he knew what he was seeing. Mr Burnham, who has vowed to reform the social care system drawing on his father's experiences, recounted: 'Something wonderful happened when I went into his care home the Sunday after I became Prime Minister. 'One of the staff said "the manager wants to speak to you before you leave" so I went over and I spoke to her.  'She said, "we all wanted you to know that we knew what time you might be coming up to Downing Street so we got Roy in his chair and we got the telly right in front of him. Six of us stood around him and said 'Roy, look'."  'They said he turned and looked. They said "momentarily they think he knew".' Andy Burnham, pictured with his parents Eileen and Roy in 2016, has revealed his father does not know his son is the prime minister because he is suffering from Alzheimer's Mr Burnham told broadcaster Elizabeth Day on her podcast How to Fail (pictured) that care home staff still ensured his father watched as he appeared outside No10 Downing Street Mr Burnham, who said he and his family 'did not know or did not have it explained to us' that his father's intensive treatment for prostate cancer could bring on Alzheimer's, told the 'How to Fail' podcast that 'the thought of them doing that 200 miles away' was 'particularly moving'.  As at the same time Roy was watching the care home's TV, Mr Burnham was on screen 'holding his mum and actually having a chat to her about him'. Before he became PM, Mr Burnham talked about his 'sadness' that his father would not understand his new role because he would be so 'proud'. 'That's a sadness because he would be [proud]. The way I look at it, it's his achievement as well. A whole family achievement, although he doesn't know it,' he said shortly before officially taking up the premiership. He also later referred to his own family's experiences of the social care system to explain his determination to reform the system. 'I think it's about being prepared to grasp the nettle,' he said. 'I've got personal experience of the system. My dad has Alzheimer's and you see what the staff have to put up with. It's not their fault. The system's broken. You can't leave social care like this.' He said that while reform 'will require something difficult', he believes the public want a better system. He added: 'The NHS won't get back to where it needs to be when you have a broken social care system that can't keep people out of hospital.' Mr Burnham has previously attempted to overhaul the social care system which he describes as 'the worst of all worlds'. The new PM shunned a lectern for his first speech, which he delivered without notes and lasted seven minutes The former Greater Manchester mayor saved a kiss for his mother, Eileen, who was there to see him speak In 2010, as health secretary under Gordon Brown, he planned to create a national care service for England but it was overshadowed by claims he planned to levy a 'death tax' to pay for it. 'The minute that poster landed with the gravestones, that was it. My reforms were dead,' Mr Burnham later admitted. However, he remains determined to 'expend political capital' during his premiership to reform the system, accusing Westminster of having 'flinched' from such big decisions for too long. 'Let's have the courage to fix the big things that politics has neglected, like social care, and have the conviction to go out there together and argue for our plans. 'This is massive when it comes to the things that people care about and I'm not going to do what Westminster has traditionally done, which is to kick the can down the road on this important issue.' Mr Burnham has also revealed that his father's condition meant he was unaware that his son had now come round to the idea of what had been one of his personal political passions, a change in the voting system to bring in proportional representation. He said: 'I don't think he's ever realised, because of his condition, that I've come round to PR, which is one of his missions – to get me to accept that.'