Andy Burnham/Premiership

 Andy Burnham/Premiership link(UK/Prime Minister)

File:Burnham Ukraine.png
Date	20 July 2026 - Present
Description	PM's first overseas visit was to Ukraine (not Israel?)
Participants	Heidi Alexander, Douglas Alexander, Chris Bryant, Andy Burnham, Alan Campbell, Yvette Cooper, Angela Eagle, Miatta Fahnbulleh, Hamish Falconer, Louise Haigh, John Healey, Stephen Kinnock, Shabana Mahmood, Anneliese Midgley, Ed Miliband, Lisa Nandy, Kanishka Narayan, Alex Norris, Matthew Pennycook, Bridget Phillipson, Lucy Powell, Angela Rayner, Ellie Reeves, Emma Reynolds, Jonathan Reynolds, Angela Smith, Wes Streeting

Andy Burnham's tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom began on 20 July 2026.

Campaigning in 2015 to be Leader of the Labour Party, Burnham said:

“I’ve always been a friend of Israel and the Jewish community – that will never change” and added that, if elected Labour leader, his first overseas visit would be to Israel.

Early in August 2026, two weeks into his premiership, Burnham jetted off on a short holiday to a destination that remains a mystery.

Assuming the holiday destination was not Israel, the PM's first overseas visit was to Ukraine later in August.

Co-location with GCHQ

On 24 July 2026, Burnham announced the creation of a "No.10 North" in Manchester, in reference to the Prime Minister's address in London. The location is Heron House, the same address as the spook agency GCHQ's operations in the North West; where their "intelligence, cyber and science teams work here, alongside our other UK hubs".

Israel lobbyists

• Alison Phillips was appointed as Andy Burnham's deputy chief of staff, resigning from Labour Together (LT), the think tank of Morgan McSweeney. In June 2026, LT received £300,000 from lobbyists David Sainsbury and Gary Lubner. Until July 16th, Philips was also a director of Hope not Hate. The group campaigned heavily for an Andy Burnham victory in the Makerfield by-election, triggered by ex-Labour Together director Josh Simons' resignation.

• Matthew McGregor, another former Hope not Hate director, was selected as Andy Burnham's new head of political strategy. In 2021, McGregor contributed to HnH's annual report alongside ex-Labour councillor Liron Velleman, who later was convicted as a child sex offender. Velleman, an ex-policy officer for Hope not Hate, sent a video of his penis to a police officer he thought was a 13 year-old girl. He was a Labour councillor in Barnet alongside JLM chair Ella Rose-Jacobs.

• Mike Katz has never been elected as a Member of Parliament, but was nevertheless re-appointed by Burnham as a Labour government whip in the House of Lords. In July 2021, just after Katz was appointed JLM chair, Matthew McGregor interviewed him for Hope not Hate's podcast.

• Ruth Smeeth was selected for Lords Spokesperson and Minister in the Northern Ireland Office. She has worked for for a number of Israel lobby groups including Labour Friends of Israel, JLM, and BICOM. In 2009, she was named as a "strictly protect" informant in a US embassy cable.

• James Purnell was selected as Andy Burnham's first chief of staff. 2002-2004 he was Chairman of the Labour Friends of Israel.

• Graeme Cooke was previously a special adviser to James Purnell, and the two men remain close allies and friends. Purnell previously was chair of the Labour Friends of Israel lobby group. Andy Burnham made Cooke director of policy at Number 10.

• Ian Austin was appointed to Burnham's UK Trade Envoy to Israel. The position is overseen by Jonathan Reynolds, Burnham's pick for Trade Secretary. Reynolds is a former vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel.

• Varun Chandra, previously a special adviser to Keir Starmer, was also been re-appointed by Burnham. Chandra was a founding chairman of Hakluyt, a private intelligence agency founded by former members of the MI6.

• Hayden Munro became Andy Burnham's first political director at Number 10. Munro previously worked for lobbying firm Arden Strategies, which was run by ex-Labour MP Jim Murphy. Murphy was James Purnell's predecessor as Labour Friends of Israel chair.

• Andy Burnham gave a job to Nathan Yeowell, a McSweeney ally who comes in as a special adviser at Number 10. He was soon congratulated by Labour MP and former Israel lobbyist Luke Akehurst. Yeowell's think tank Future Governance Forum is funded by Euan Blair's AI firm Multiverse and Gary Lubner.
• Bridget Phillipson, appointed as Chair of the Labour Party, received £80,000 from an individual linked to Israeli military intelligence. In 2023, Bridget Phillipson registered two £40,000 donations from pro-Israeli lobbyist Stuart Roden. He is the co-founder of Hetz Ventures, which he set up with ex-IDF intelligence officer Judah Taub.

• Labour MP Lisa Nandy, Burnham’s Culture Secretary, received thousands of pounds from lobbyists Stuart Roden and Trevor Chinn.

Ukraine visit

Officially, the PM's first overseas visit was to Ukraine on 24 August 2026. Meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Burnham accused the Kremlin of ‘outrageous threats’ against the UK as Russia warned of an escalation in tensions after the UK government’s decision to present Ukraine with newly declassified blueprints to allow Kyiv to improve its production of long-range missiles.

Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said the exchange would add “fuel to the fire” and scupper any moves towards a peace deal. Peskov said:

“Britain is involved in this war on the side of the Kyiv regime.

“Britain methodically and regularly adds fuel ‌to the fire, and methodically and regularly hatches schemes to prevent even the slightest progress in the peaceful settlement process.”

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