Little-known abroad, Andy Burnham has a chance to define a new era of US-UK relations.
Should he seek to charm or bargain with the bully in the White House – or treat him 'like a poorly informed constituent'?
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If, as expected, Burnham becomes British prime minister later this month, one of his first calls will likely be with Donald Trump.
Trump's mother was Scottish and he has a nostalgic fascination with Britain.
But managing a relationship with the erratic, transactional and demanding US president has been a diplomatic minefield for Burnham's predecessors.
Trump has encountered three British prime ministers in five and a half years.
When Trump returned to power in January 2025, Keir Starmer pulled out all the stops to burnish the special relationship.
But their bond soured over Trump's threats to Greenland, denigration of British troops in Afghanistan, and perception that Britain failed to support its war in Iran.
“This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with” became Trump's go-to insult. Now, with Starmer having resigned, Trump will meet his fourth British PM.
Like most Americans, Trump appears to have never heard of Burnham, who was until recently mayor of Greater Manchester.
Asked what he knew about Burnham, Trump replied: “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.”
