How Andy Burnham stood up to Starmer over Israel and could now reshape UK foreign policy

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Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, has positioned himself as a significant figure in reshaping UK foreign policy regarding Israel. Amid challenges to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership, Burnham's stance could resonate with voters seeking a shift in approach to international issues.

How Andy Burnham stood up to Starmer over Israel and could now reshape UK foreign policy Imran Mulla on Mon, 05/11/2026 - 13:45 If he became PM, the Greater Manchester mayor would likely reorient British policy on Israel Andy Burnham speaks at an event on the first day of the annual Labour Party conference in Liverpool on 28 September, 2025 (AFP) Off Keir Starmer faces an existential battle for his premiership after the Labour Party's stunning losses in last week's local elections. The prime minister has been on the ropes for a while. Many thought he would go after the Peter Mandelson scandal earlier this year, when sordid details emerged about the (now former) ambassador to the US and the Starmer ally's friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. But Starmer clung on. No one wanted to replace him before the local elections, sources in the Labour Party told Middle East Eye.  Now, less than two years after his landslide general election vistory, the prime minister is being encircled.  Whitehall sources believe the leading contenders to be prime minister - should a race emerge - are Health Secretary Wes Streeting; Starmer's former deputy, Angela Rayner; Energy Secretary Ed Miliband; and Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Whoever emerges as victor, British foreign policy is likely to shift - particularly towards Israel, with which the UK has maintained longstanding military and political cooperation.  As a foreign policy issue, Israel has been significant in Britain over the past two-plus years because of its genocide in Gaza. And in the past few months, the US-Israeli war on Iran has had a significant economic impact on Britain.  How the smear campaign targeting the Green Party and Muslim voters failed Read More » The famous pollster Sir John Curtis has noted that the Green Party - the leading political voice against British support for Israel - inflicted far more damage on the Labour vote than Reform in the local elections. Whoever replaces Starmer as prime minister if he resigns or his forced out will be keen to respond to the Green insurgency and win back left-wing voters. This could mean a much stronger response to Israeli war crimes in a bid to inject new meaning and purpose to the Labour government, and try and take the wind out of the Green Party's sails. Of the serious likely contenders for the premiership, it is Burnham who has most significantly diverged from Starmer's position on Israel so far. Labour Friend of Israel and Palestine The mayor - highly popular within the party and considered to be on the soft left - voted in favour of the British invasion of Iraq in 2003 when he was MP for Leigh in Tony Blair's government.  He also joined Labour Friends of Israel, a pro-Israel group within the party, in 2015. This established him as a non-radical figure in contrast to his colleagues who were strongly pro-Palestinian, like Jeremy Corbyn. Running unsuccessfully to be Labour leader in 2015, Burnham said his first overseas visit would be to Israel. He called the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement "spiteful" and said he opposed it. At a leadership hustings, Burnham praised Israel as a “democracy that has a long history of protecting minorities and promoting civil rights” and said that the Balfour Declaration represented “an example of British values in action”. Head of Jewish National Fund UK loses council seat in UK local elections Read More » He added that he would want to see the declaration's centenary anniversary celebrated with events in schools to demonstrate how Britain “played a role in the establishment of a democracy in the region”. But Burnham also marked himself out as a critic of the Israeli government. Less well-known than his membership of Labour Friends of Israel is that he visited the occupied West Bank in 2012 with Labour Friends of Palestine. In March 2015 he reacted to Benjamin Netanyahu's reelection as Israeli prime minister by calling the news "depressing" in a tweet.  "Netanyahu elected on pledge to build more settlements," he said.  "Palestine will need more international support." Burnham told the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in July that year that he backed recognising Palestinian statehood, saying it was "not a gift to be given but a right to be recognised". (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); He called for "an end to occupation and illegal settlement building by the Israelis, and an end to the rocket and terror attacks by the terrorist group Hamas. Labour recognises that the settlements and their continued expansion remain key obstacles to resolving the conflict," he added. On boycotting settlement goods, Burnham said the party under his leadership would "maintain domestic action to introduce labelling transparency, and will seek a Europe-wide approach to settlement products." Breaking ranks with Labour l