A piece of misinformation surrounding Andy Burnham’s wife’s business interests has resurfaced since the Makerfield MP’s bid for leadership.
In 2022, a rumour surfaced that Burnham’s wife, Marie-France van Heel, would gain financially from the selection of the electric vehicle (EV) charging company Be.EV for a contract with Transport for Greater Manchester, to maintain and grow the region’s electric vehicle charging network.
But Van Heel’s relationship to the company was widely exaggerated online, mostly by critics of Greater Manchester’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ).
Now, the same rumour is being used to imply corruption.
Van Heel does have some links to Be.EV. At the time, she was the chief strategy and managing partner of a small marketing and brand agency called Heavenly, which involved her working with clients including Iduna Infrastructure Limited.
The latter owned Amey MAP Services Limited, which had a contract with Transport for Greater Manchester to operate the public electric vehicle (EV) network.
However, neither Van Heel nor Burnham had any shares in the company at the time and Burnham, who was the Mayor for Greater Manchester when the contract was signed, was not involved in the deal.
He declared his wife’s employment by Be.EV at a Greater Manchester combined authority (GMCA) meeting in September 2021, so that he was not part of the decision-making.
He said: “Even though this is a minor private interest in relation to EV charging – and not directly related to the CAZ –...
A piece of misinformation surrounding Andy Burnham’s wife’s business interests has resurfaced since the Makerfield MP’s bid for leadership. In 2022, a rumour surfaced that Burnham’s wife, Marie-Fra...