Meet Marie-France van Heel, Wife of Britain's New Prime Minister Andy Burnham

When the U.K.’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham arrived at 10 Downing Street earlier this week, his wife of 25 years, Marie-France van Heel, was right by his side.The couple, who share a son and two daughters, met at university, where van Heel was “much more high-flying” than Burnham, according to an interview the lawmaker gave in 2009.Burnham, 56, has publicly thanked his wife for the “sacrifice” she made early on in his political career when he earned his first parliamentary selection for the northern England town of Leigh in 2001.“When my wife got pregnant, we actually hadn't planned to have children at that time because I felt stability was important,” Burnham said. “We got married in October 2000, when Jimmy [our eldest child] was eight months old, and I was in a difficult battle to win the nomination. It was horrendous, up and down the M6 [motorway] from London campaigning.” Burnham’s wife has been a constant source of support throughout his political career, which saw him unsuccessfully vie for Labour leadership on two separate occasions before running unchallenged earlier this month.The Burnham-van Heel family have laid strong roots in the north of England, where the now-Pr...