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

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has spoken emotionally about how his father Roy, who has advanced Alzheimer's, does not know his son has become Prime Minister. In a podcast interview, Burnham broke down as he described how staff at Roy's care home in the North of England made a point of showing him television footage of his son entering Downing Street, believing he may have briefly recognised him.

Speaking to Elizabeth Day on her How to Fail podcast, Burnham recounted how six care home staff gathered Roy in front of the television and told him to look as his son appeared on screen, with staff later telling Burnham they believed his father had momentarily understood. Burnham, whose father developed Alzheimer's after intensive prostate cancer treatment, has cited his family's experience of the social care system as motivation for his push to reform it, describing the current system as "broken" and "the worst of all worlds" following an earlier failed attempt at reform as health secretary in 2010.