Roy Burnham was living with Alzheimer’s in a care home
British prime minister Andy Burnham has cancelled all of his engagements on Monday and Tuesday following the death of his father Roy, who had Alzheimer’s.
Mr Burnham had been due to host business leaders in No 10 on Monday afternoon.
The British prime minister has previously spoken about how his father, Roy Burnham, was living with Alzheimer’s in a care home, telling The Times in July that his father was unaware he was about to become prime minister.
“That’s a sadness because he would be [proud],” Mr Burnham said over the summer. “The way I look at it, it’s his achievement as well. A whole family achievement although he doesn’t know it.”
Mr Burnham has also vowed to “grasp the nettle” of reforming the adult social care system, drawing on his father’s experience.
He described the “broken social care system” in England as “the worst of all worlds” and said that it is a “massive” priority for the public.