LAST UPDATE | 25 Jun

ANDY BURNHAM IS “extremely liberal” and so “probably won’t open up the North Sea” for oil exploration, US president Donald Trump has said he has heard.

Burnham, who won last week’s byelection in Makerfield, is the likely candidate to become prime minister following Keir Starmer’s resignation.

In his first public comments about Burnham, Trump described him as “the mayor of a town”.

Andy Burnham, front left, is sworn-in as an MP in the House of Common in London, England, Monday, 22 June 2026. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

The US president also spoke at his disappointment at the UK’s response to the Iran conflict, but noted Starmer had “now gone”.

Asked at the White House what he knew about Burnham, Trump said: “I don’t know, I think 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.

Trump said he previously advised Starmer to open up the North Sea, which the president described as “loaded”.

He said: “I gave Keir Starmer some pretty good advice. I said, open up the North Sea, go to Aberdeen, which was the hottest city of the whole continent.

“It was the oil city of Europe, and they closed everything. It was terrible. I couldn’t believe it.

“I have had every oil company come to see me ‘Sir. Could you give us access to the UK? We would do anything to drill in the North Sea’.

“The amazing thing is, they buy their oil from Norway, which gets the oil from the North Sea. Think of it, and they pay a big premium.

“Norway’s got now two trillion dollars in the bank, and the UK is dying, so they should open up the North Sea, and it’s an easy one, and a lot of good things are going to happen. It’s among the greatest deals in the world.”

With additional reporting from PA.