US President Donald Trump described UK Labour leadership frontrunner Andy Burnham as "extremely liberal" and doubted he would open the North Sea to more oil drilling during comments on June 24, 2026, at the White House with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte [1, 2, 3, 4]. Trump, who acknowledged limited knowledge of Burnham, said, "I don’t know anything. I see that he was, I guess, the mayor of a town. I hear he’s extremely liberal, extremely, so that means he probably won’t open up the North Sea" [1].
Burnham is set to succeed Keir Starmer as UK Labour Party leader and is the likely next prime minister by mid-July 2026, as he currently stands unopposed in the leadership contest [1, 3, 5, 6]. Starmer announced his resignation on June 22 following poor poll ratings and local election setbacks [5]. Trump criticized Starmer for refusing to expand oil and gas licenses in the North Sea and said he warned Starmer he would lose his premiership, saying, "I said, ‘You’re going to lose your prime ministership,’ and he did" [1, 3, 5].
Burnham has shown some openness on North Sea oil and gas development but has no firm position, describing himself as having "something of an open mind" on the issue [1, 3]. Trump described Burnham dismissively as "mayor of a town," referencing the politician’s former role leading Greater Manchester [1, 2, 3, 5, 4].
Burnham has previously criticized US politics for being polarized and condemned UK politicians who engaged with Trump during the January 2021 US Capitol riot, showing clear differences from the former president [2, 4]. Trump’s relationship with Starmer once started positively but soured over disagreements about UK support for US military efforts and the Iran conflict [1, 2, 5].
Burnham remains the only confirmed contender to replace Starmer as Labour leader, positioning him as the next UK prime minister once the leadership vote concludes [1, 2, 3, 5, 6]. The party’s official leadership transition and Burnham’s premiership are expected by mid-July 2026 [1, 3, 5, 6].
