UK’s Burnham ‘putting Britain first’ as he rules out 2029 election

AdvertisementBritainWorldEuropeUK’s Burnham ‘putting Britain first’ as he rules out 2029 electionBritain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham ‘will always put Britain’s interests first’ when asked if he would call out US President Donald Trump2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenReutersPublished: 7:36pm, 26 Jul 2026Britain’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham “will always put Britain’s interests first”, he said in an interview when asked whether he was willing to call out US President Donald Trump. Burnham’s predecessor Keir Starmer, who announced ‌he was stepping down last month, had a fraught relationship with Trump due to differences over the US-Israeli war on Iran, immigration, energy and tech regulation.While Trump initially described Starmer’s successor as “extremely liberal”, he said this week he had a “very good conversation” with Burnham, who became Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade on Monday.

In his first major interview since taking office, BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg asked Burnham if ⁠he was willing to call out Trump if he thought it was the right thing to do.“All leaders have to ‌do that. You have to defend your own national interest before anything else.

That’s what you’re required to do if you’re to do this job properly,” he said.The prime minister also said ‌he would not call a general election before 2029.Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) during the Nato leaders’ summit in Ankara, Turkey, on July 8.

Photo: Reuters“I’m going to rule it out. Yeah, there’s no ⁠early general election. I don’t ⁠think people want it,” he said.

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