Andy Burnham's father Roy, 86, dies after living with Alzheimer’s disease

Andy Burnham hugs his parents Eileen and Roy after he was selected as the Labour candidate who will fight to become the mayor of Greater Manchester in 2016 PA Michael Howie , Senior News Editor just now COMMENTS Prime Minister Andy Burnham has cancelled engagements on Monday and Tuesday following the death of his father Roy, 86, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s, Downing Street said.

Mr Burnham has spoken about his father’s illness which meant that he did not know his son had become Prime Minister.

The experience is one of the driving factors in the Prime Minister’s aim to reform the social care system.

Mr Burnham had been due to host business leaders in No 10 on Monday afternoon.

In an interview with The Times before moving into Downing Street in July, Mr Burnham told of his “sadness” that his father’s battle with dementia meant he would not know of his son’s success.

In a major speech about reform of social care later that month, Mr Burnham promised to help “my dad and the millions like him” faced with the unfairness of the current system.