World

Andy Burnham, Britain's new prime minister, stirs hopes of closer EU ties

Herz — World Desk · 22 July 2026 at 16:20 · 30s summary · 4 min read

The essentials

Andy Burnham has become Britain's seventh prime minister since the Brexit referendum, succeeding Keir Starmer. In the week of July 22, 2026, Ursula von der Leyen, Emmanuel Macron, and Friedrich Merz expressed their hope for accelerated rapprochement between the EU and the UK. Burnham had campaigned against Brexit in 2016 and stated in 2025 he hoped Britain would rejoin the EU, but has since tempered his position: he acknowledges Brexit "has been damaging" without proposing membership. Labour's manifesto sets three red lines: no single market, no customs union, and no free movement.

Burnham is the 7th UK PM since Brexit, elected in a 65% pro-Leave constituency
Von der Leyen, Macron and Merz express hope for UK-EU rapprochement under his leadership
Labour maintains three red lines: no single market, customs union or free movement
Analysts see rapprochement possible through institutional channels, not formal negotiations
Three EU-UK agreements nearing completion, a short-term priority for the new government

Illustration image — Dirk Beyer, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

What we know

Andy Burnham has become Britain's seventh prime minister since the Brexit referendum in June 2016, succeeding Keir Starmer. He won a by-election in a constituency where approximately 65% of voters had voted in favour of Leave, according to the Guardian.

In the week of July 22, 2026, leading European leaders expressed their desire to deepen relations with London. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, indicated that a "very good" first meeting with Burnham had confirmed a shared commitment to "bring the EU and the United Kingdom ever closer together."

Emmanuel Macron hoped for a "new momentum for partnership." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he wanted to forge an even closer bond.

Pro-European positions tempered by political constraints

Burnham had argued against the "isolation" of Brexit during the 2016 referendum and stated in 2025 that he hoped Britain would rejoin the EU in his lifetime.

During his 2026 by-election campaign, he acknowledged that Brexit "has been damaging," while clarifying that he is not proposing the UK consider rejoining the EU. His stated objective is to "unite the country."

Labour's electoral manifesto sets three immovable red lines: no return to the European single market, no customs union with the EU, and no restoration of free movement of people.

Rapprochement possible through indirect channels, analysts suggest

Joel Reland, analyst at UK in a Changing Europe — an independent British research organisation specialising in EU-UK relations — believes that Burnham's agenda centred on devolution, industrialisation and economic sovereignty closely mirrors the EU's doctrine of "strategic autonomy."

This doctrine aims to reduce the EU's external dependencies in critical sectors: artificial intelligence, energy, digital infrastructure and critical minerals. This convergence could bring London and Brussels closer in practice, without formal trade negotiations.

Reland cites two institutional platforms as possible frameworks: the Committee of the Regions, an EU consultative assembly bringing together representatives of local and regional authorities, and the EU-UK parliamentary assembly.

Anthony Dworkin, researcher at the ECFR (European Council on Foreign Relations, a pan-European research centre founded in 2007), believes that Burnham will anchor his foreign policy in local economic realities, unlike Starmer. In the short term, the government aims to finalise three EU-UK agreements to be signed at an upcoming bilateral summit.