JD Vance has said he hopes Andy Burnham can fix Britain after years of “failed leadership”.
The US vice-president claimed the UK had been “failed by its leadership for a long time”, expressing a wish that the next prime minister could address the changes demanded by voters.
“What I see is six prime ministers in the last few years,” said Mr Vance in an interview with The Sunday Times.
“What that says to me is that something is very broken about British politics and that people are really crying out for significant structural change. I hope that Andy Burnham – and if not Andy Burnham, somebody else – is able to deliver it.”
He added that he hoped whoever succeeded Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister “figures out how to get Britain back on track”.
Sir Keir announced his decision to step down from No 10 last month after just under two years in charge.
Donald Trump has been very critical of Sir Keir Starmer, while Mr Vance and David Lammy have formed a strong bond – Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
The outgoing Prime Minister had presided over a renewal in relations with Donald Trump, but things soured after he opposed the US president’s ambitions to take over Greenland and refused to join his war against Iran.
Since then, including in his resignation well-wishes, Mr Trump has been highly critical of Sir Keir’s inability to get a grip on illegal migration and the UK’s energy crisis.
Although voicing similar criticisms, Mr Vance has been a supporter of Britain. He has built a strong personal relationship with David Lammy, the Deputy Prime Minister, bonding over faith, family and fishing.
Mr Vance described Britain as an “amazing place” with the “most amazing people in the world” outside the US.
In the interview, he claimed he knew little about Mr Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, but added: “Whoever is the prime minister, we’re going to work with them as successfully as we can.”
Mr Burnham said Americans were in the midst of a ‘polarised, poisonous politics’ – Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
The front-runner to be the next prime minister has been highly critical of Mr Trump and his administration over the years.
“The path we’re on, if we are not careful, is a path towards the politics of the United States of America,” Mr Burnham said on the campaign trail in June.
While he did not directly attribute the phenomenon to Mr Trump, he claimed Americans were in the midst of a “polarised, poisonous politics where people in communities don’t work together any more”.
In an interview last year, Mr Burnham said he believed Mr Trump was bringing “instability” to the US through his Right-wing politics.
The US president and administration officials have been equally critical of Mr Burnham, arguing that his Left-wing politics “of unfettered migration and destructive globalism have made once-great European cities unrecognisable – allowing criminals to run wild and anti-Semitism to thrive”.
In his first public comments about Mr Burnham, Mr Trump described him as an “extremely liberal mayor of a town”, predicting that he would not resume drilling for oil and gas in the North Sea.