Andy Burnham said his father would have wanted him to be “back out there” to bring forward “the changes that he always pushed me to make”, as he returned to work following his death.
The Prime Minister said his family have been “helped through this difficult time by people’s warmth and compassion”, and especially pointed to messages from political leaders from other parties.
Downing Street announced the death of his father Roy, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s, earlier this week, and Mr Burnham cancelled several engagements in the wake of the news.
Asked how he is doing on his first day back at work, Mr Burnham told reporters: “We’re doing OK, thank you.
“It is hard, and it will be hard for a little while. But better to get back to the job,” he added.
During a visit to McLaren’s Technology Centre in Woking, Mr Burnham went on to say: “I also want to thank the leaders of the other parties, all of whom sent a message.
“It shows there is decency in British politics still, and that’s that’s what we need to see.
“So it’s a thank you from us all, the whole family. But my dad would want me to be back out there … bringing some of the changes that he always pushed me to make.”
Mr Burnham has previously spoken about his father’s illness, which meant 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.
In a major speech in July, Mr Burnham promised to help “my dad and the millions like him” faced with the unfairness of the current system.
In a post on X on Wednesday, he wrote: “We are grateful to everyone who has shared a kind message about my dad, particularly the leaders of the other parties.
“My family and I have been helped through this difficult time by people’s warmth and compassion. It means a great deal to us and we wanted to say thank you.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Green Party leader Zack Polanski had all expressed their condolences to the Prime Minister.
Paul Edwards, chief nursing officer at Dementia UK, said by sharing his own experience, the Prime Minister had “helped shine an important light on the profound impact that dementia can have on the whole family, as well as the urgent need to improve dementia care and support”.
Mr Burnham’s father, who was in his mid-80s, was a former telephone engineer, first with the Post Office and then with BT.
He and the Prime Minister’s mother Eileen brought him up in Culcheth, Cheshire, alongside his two brothers.
Mr Burnham described his “close-knit” upbringing in the 70s and 80s in his book Head North.
In the 2024 book, co-written with Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, Mr Burnham wrote: “Neither my dad, Roy, nor my mum, Eileen, went to university.
“But both could have done if they had grown up in a different time and in a different place.
“Their knowledge of that fact seemed to make them all the more determined that their three sons would go. But that did not make them pushy parents in any way.
“Their approach was one of quiet encouragement and confidence-building. Our family home in Culcheth was always full of music, life, laughter, love and support.”
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