Britain’s new First Lady and the lesson for Melania Trump

Andy Burnham’s better half is my kind of woman. Marie-France van Heel is bright, independent and has her own career and interests. You won’t see her in staged photos looking up at her husband with adoring eyes and mouthing saccharine platitudes. Not because she doesn’t love him, but because she knows him inside and out and married him despite his faults. She’s nobody’s fool and paddles her own canoe. Crucially in the snake pit world of politics where leaders are betrayed by two-faced cabinet members and backbenchers; while at the same time finding themselves in a No 10 echo chamber with sycophantic aides and flunkies, Burnham can rely on Van Heel (known to pals as Frankie) to always tell him the truth. This week he revealed in an interview with Elizabeth Day on her How to Fail podcast that Van Heel rolled her eyes when Burnham embarked on his campaign to become Labour leader and Prime Minister. As we know, he had tried and failed twice before, against Ed Milliband and Jeremy Corbyn (I know) so her heartfelt reply of “Not again” sums up the exasperation of a woman who has walked this way before and doesn’t have the bloody energy to do so again. She added for good measure “They’ve told you twice they don’t want you”. Then there was the time Burnham gave an evasive and woolly interview and received a text from her in capital letters simply saying: “ANSWER THE F**KING QUESTION”. Both are typically blunt and direct responses from a straight-talking woman who takes no crap, but is also fiercely loyal to her husband. Marie-France van Heel has a lot to contribute. She’s a mother of three, a successful businesswoman and was known as ‘the coolest girl in college’ (Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP) I am sure there was part of her that knew this bid for glory would be Burnham’s last chance at the top job, but also she probably didn’t want him to be hurt and disappointed. And then again maybe she was a bit apprehensive about what it means to be the UK’s “First Lady”. It’s a position of course that doesn’t exist in the same way as it does in the United States, and has left the partners of our various prime ministers over the years in a sort of weird limbo. They are public figures with no real standing. If they try to contribute they are accused of being uppity and interfering, and if they are shy and don’t want to be part of the circus they are labelled stuck up and lazy. Van Heel had a baptism of fire with a whole tsunami of bitchy comments over the outfit she wore when her husband took office. It was mean and unforgivable and any woman, no matter how down to earth and secure, would have been deeply hurt. I wouldn’t blame her for doing a Mrs Keir Starmer, pulling down the blinds and retreating into her shell, but that would be a real shame. Because Van Heel has a lot to contribute. She’s a mother of three, a successful businesswoman and was known as “the coolest girl in college”. She had the chutzpah and sense of fun to appear on Cilla Black’s Blind Date TV show. She didn’t hit it off with her TV choice, much to Burnham’s relief, and he knows all too well he won the jackpot when she agreed to be his wife. It is ridiculous in this day and age to expect such a powerhouse to remain meekly in the background, only to be wheeled out for cosy lifestyle photoshoots in glossy magazines. So why can’t we have a proper First Lady (or First Gentleman) position with a clear role and a title that gives respect and gravitas to the job. I’m not at all sure what Melania Trump does apart from look sensationally sulky and wear hats like satellite dishes (Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty) The American First Lady (Flotus) has a budget, a full staff of bright young things and are encouraged to promote causes and charities for the greater good. Eleanor Roosevelt championed civil rights, Nancy Reagan had her anti-drugs campaign, Michelle Obama promoted fitness and health in young people to tackle obesity and now we have Melania Trump. I’m not at all sure what she does apart from look sensationally sulky and wear hats like satellite dishes. In Donald Trump’s first term she launched her Be Best initiative, focusing on the health of children, and this time around there was some talk about anti-cyber bullying awareness but that seems to have faded away. She reportedly loathes being anywhere near the White House and appears to barely tolerate her husband. Not the greatest advert for First Lady, but we could do so much better over here. So again I ask, isn’t it time we made the UK’s First Lady/Gentleman a real job? Shouldn’t there at least be an option for the wives, husbands and partners of the prime minister to contribute openly and wisely, with proper back up if that’s what they want to do? Van Heel has so far indicated she will continue with her day job, but maybe an official role would change her mind. It’s not as though we are short of causes that need a passionate advocate and she would be a formidable person to have on your side. Burnham would not be where he is today without her guidance and support, so why not make it official and give her a valid role in government that could really make a difference. This week I have been… indoors bingeing on Star City. It is one of the best pieces of television I have seen in a very long time. It’s a sort of spin-off of the Apple sci-fi series For All Mankind set in an alternative universe where the USA lost the space race and a Soviet cosmonaut landed on the Moon first. I know I am late to the party, but it is quite simply a masterpiece and not just for fellow sci-fi geeks. It’s thrilling, terrifying and tragic. I don’t know if I can ever look at Anna Maxwell Martin in the same way. This is light years from her harrassed turn in Motherland. She is a spine-chilling monster as the KGB colonel who will happily shoot an innocent cosmonaut to cover up her own misjudgements and mistakes. There are a few howlers in the plot though. I think any cosmonaut – or indeed any five-year-old – would know you can’t land on Venus as you would be instantly crushed by enormous pressure and boiled alive in seconds in temperatures that can melt lead, but I am happy to let that go because it is all just so fabulously well done. Watch it and feel lucky you never had to live under the paranoia of the Soviet Union or indeed Vladimir Putin’s Russia today.