Andy Burnham, dubbed “King of the North” was sworn in as the new Makerfield MP just hours after Kier Starmer’s resignation on Monday. He is likely to be the sole candidate for leader of the Labour party, thus presumed as future Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Known for his bold moves as Mayor of Greater Manchester, many are eager to see his approach on a national level. Burnham plans to expand his Mayoral ideas to tackle Britain’s domestic issues through devolution. He is also committed to some form of public control for electricity and water, to introducing proportional representation, and reforming the House of Lords by making it fully elected. However, Burnham noticeably shied away from speaking about foreign policy in the Makerfield by-election. Burnham is inheriting numerous geopolitical issues and difficult international relations – and based on past political voicings, his views exist but are subordinated to domestic political calculation, at least currently. So what are Andy Burnham’s Foreign Policy views?
On the United States
Andy Burnham is slightly more hardline in his criticism of President Donald Trump compared to his predecessor, Keir Starmer. During his campaign for the Makerfield by-Election, he spoke out about the polarisation of politics in the US , “And the path we’re on, if we are not careful, is a path towards the politics of the United States of America,” he said. “A polarized, poisonous politics where people in communities don’t work together anymore.” However, speaking to the Guardian, Burnham backed Starmer’s handling of Trump. Burnham has acknowledged that, in his co-authored book “Head North”, Trump and Farage succeed by filling the vacuum left by governments that lost touch with ordinary voters, and Burnham´s inward-facing campaign reads as a direct response to that diagnosis.
On Israel-Palestine
Burnham has been an advocate for Palestine in the past, but recently, in the by-election, he has had a more muted outlook. He visited the West Bank with Labour Friends of Palestine in 2012. In 2015 in a post on X, he described the news of Benjamin Netanyahu’s electoral victory as “depressing” saying that “Palestine will need more international support” as Netanyahu was elected on the back of the premise of building more settlements. He also publicly urged the Labour government to formally recognise a Palestinian state before it eventually did so in September 2025. That said, in 2015, when Burnham (unsuccessfully) stood to become leader of the Labour party, he joined Labour friends of Israel, likely to appeal to a wider voter base. After the October 7th attacks and the ensuing war, Burnham was one of the first to call for a ceasefire, alongside his deputy mayor on October 27th 2023, whereas other politicians, such as Starmer, held back for several more months. On the other hand, in an interview with the Guardian during the Makerfield by-election campaign, Burnham was asked about Gaza and refused to recognise it as a genocide commenting that he “can’t judge things of that enormity” from his current position. However, in the same interview he did comment on the worrying scale of destruction and alluded to a process of investigation and accountability. Collating all of this, one can assume that Andy Burnham tried to appeal to a wider voter base, but still expresses stronger views on Israel-Palestine, whereby we might see a harsher crackdown on Israel’s government under Burnham.
On Ukraine and the EU
Andy Burnham was vocally pro-remain in the Brexit referendum, and in 2025 he said that he hopes to see Britain rejoin the EU in his lifetime, but in the Makerfield by-election he made it clear that this would not be a foreign policy ambition of his, stating that re-running Brexit would be a divisive mistake. He has expressed significant support for Ukraine, launching the “Unbroken cities network” with Mayors of Liverpool, Manchester, Lviv and America’s Fund, UNBROKEN Ukraine, and One World Strong to connect cities worldwide to provide support and enhance rehabilitation efforts in Ukraine. Having said which, this is not radical or dramatic. Russia herself has no issue with Ukraine joining the EU.
On China
Andy Burnham is not an outspoken critic of Beijing, and takes relations with China from a predominantly economic standpoint. In April he met with Chinese consul Tang Rui, in which they discussed greater economic cooperation in “areas such as green development, electric buses, advanced manufacturing and life sciences”. It is worth noting that this meeting received no Western media coverage, emphasising how low profile Burnham’s China engagement has been. In 2018 on an official visit to China, he expressed admiration for the country’s railway infrastructure. However, Burnham has made no comment to how he would deal with an evermore powerful China, and is likely to address this relationship based on economic pragmatism rather than a geopolitical lens.
What would this mean for the future of the Britain’s international relations?
Wes Streeting could end up as Foreign Secretary, and a wider cabinet reshuffle is very likely, meaning we would have had 10 Foreign Secretaries in 10 years. Burnham has pledged to travel as little as possible and to focus on pressing domestic challenges, but despite this, it will be less than ideal in terms of stable long term foreign policy, and international organisations, countries and individuals will be directly at the mercy of this strategy. After Starmer, it seems that there is growing want for a leader with a more decisive and bold manner, speeding up British progress.
Burnham’s foreign policy since the Makerfield by-election centres around uniting Britain with a wide voter base, which also included having to appeal to a large pool of Reform voters, leaving little room for radical foreign policy positions. He has ultimately entirely faced his campaign inwards. If Andy Burnham ends up as leader of the Labour Party we could see two outcomes: We could see Andy Burnham express this through his foreign policy through ideas such as greater economic collaboration with China, the EU and Ukraine, as well as less appeasement toward the US and Israel. The, perhaps more likely outcome, is that Andy Burnham will do the bare minimum regarding foreign policy, focusing in his promise to tackle the plethora of domestic issues.
