Following the resignation of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, Labour MP Andy Burnham announced his intention to run to replace him.
Burnham has held the position of Mayor of Greater Manchester since May 2017, only leaving the role last week after winning the local by election in Makersfield. He is seen as the leading candidate for Labour Party leadership.
Significant attention is now on Burnham regarding his stances on Israel, Gaza, and antisemitism.
So what does the potential new prime minister of the UK have to say on these topics?
Jews and antisemitism
Burnham has a long history of calling out antisemitism, especially within his own party.
In 2018, he tweeted calling for his party to take a firmer stand against antisemitism. Then, in 2019, while the Labour Party was still under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, Burnham told the Board of Deputies at Manchester Town Hall that it is “inconceivable to me that a party which has prided itself on its record on racism could have become in embroiled in an antisemitism crisis.”
“Racism needs to be dealt with firmly, quickly and decisively. I’m afraid that this hasn’t been the response so far and I hope from this point forward this has been understood,” he said.
Burnham was Mayor of Manchester when two were killed and several wounded in an antisemitic terror attack outside a Manchester synagogue on Yom Kippur 2025.
Burnham was one of the first officials to speak publicly about the attack, telling BBC Radio Manchester at around 10:30 a.m., that a “serious incident” had taken place less.
He later took to X to condemn the “vile attack on our Jewish community on its holiest day.”
“We stand with GM’s Jewish community at this time and will work through the day to support them,” he said.
In a recent interview with Jewish News, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described Burnham as a “great ally” in the fight against antisemitism and one who will stand with the Jewish community “always.”
“He believes in justice, so is acutely aware of the need for a safe homeland for Jewish people, and the particularly unique historical reasons why Israel came into existence,” she said.
Burnham has also been actively supportive of Holocaust remembrance and education.
Recently, in January 2026, Burnham attended a Holocaust Memorial Day service with the Jewish Representative Council of GM & Region (JewishMCR).
There, Burnham “reaffirmed his commitment to standing firmly against anti‑Jewish racism, invoking the words of the late Mancunian Holocaust Survivor Ike Alterman BEM, who taught us that hate is a disease,” according to the JRCMCR.
JRCMCR chair Mark Adlestone has praised Burnham’s longstanding partnership with local Jewish organizations and his solidarity in times of distress.
Adlestone did however recently tell Jewish News that it would be “disingenuous to suggest there have not been times when there have been disagreements.” He cited Burnham leading a call for a ceasefire post 7 October, whilst hostages remained in captivity, as an example of when there has been friction.
Oct. 7 and the Israel-Hamas War
Burnham was Manchester Mayor at the time of the October 7 Hamas attacks. On the 13 October 2023, about a week later, he released a statement condemning “without reservation the appalling attacks in Israel by Hamas.”
“Nothing justifies the taking of innocent lives in such a barbaric and indiscriminate manner,” he said.
He also acknowledged the heightened concerns of many members of Manchester’s Jewish community and said he had spoken to the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police who assured that there would continue to be an increased police presence in all areas of the city-region with Jewish community organizations.
Burnham also said that, while people must always be free to demonstrate peacefully and display flags if that is their wish, it is not acceptable to display “flags being used to provoke confrontation, displaying the flags of proscribed organisations or the making of inciteful, hateful and inflammatory statements.”
He then added that “Israel has the right to defend itself, and protect its citizens, in line with international law.”
However, just under two weeks later, on October 27, Burnham, along with the deputy mayor and local councillors, released a statement calling for a ceasefire, at a time when hostages were still being held by Hamas.
“We condemn unreservedly the appalling terror attacks on innocent civilians in Israel by Hamas on 7th October” the statement read, however adding “We also have profound concerns about the loss of thousands of innocent lives in Gaza, the displacement of many more and widespread suffering through the ongoing blockade of essential goods and services.”
“Given the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Gaza, the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and the ten Leaders of Greater Manchester join the growing international calls for a ceasefire by all sides and for the hostages to be released unharmed.”
This was criticized by the Adlestone of the JRCMCR, who said that “although much of the content was well constructed and demonstrated an awareness of the situation’s complexity, I agreed with the majority in our community that the request gave insufficient weight to Israel’s right and obligation to defend her citizens.”
At the start of this month, Burnham notably declined to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide, causing significant upset within the pro-Palestine space.
Burnham was reportedly asked about foreign policy during an interview with the Guardian and allegedly declined to say Israel has committed genocide, explaining: “I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.”
Pro-Palestinian activists and left-wing media sites have since been circulating a video clip from the 2015 Labour Leadership Election where Burnham said: “The first country I will visit if elected is Israel” and called the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement “spiteful.”
Burnham has however repeatedly affirmed his support for a two-state solution. In May 2015, he responded to a survey of candidates by Palestine Solidarity Campaign in which he said “I fully support two states living side by side in peace, and recognised by all of their neighbours.”
He said “Palestinian statehood is not a gift to be given but a right to be recognised” and noted that he urged the UK government in both 2011 and in 2012 to support the Palestinian bid for recognition at the UN.
He also called for “an end to occupation and illegal settlement building by the Israelis, and an end to the rocket and terror attacks by the terrorist group Hamas.”
“Labour recognises that the settlements and their continued expansion remain key obstacles to resolving the conflict, as Ed Miliband has said, they are both illegal and immoral. We are clear, however, that the threat of boycotts of Israel is the wrong response. Labour has taken and will maintain domestic action to introduce labelling transparency, and will seek a Europe-wide approach to settlement products,” he said.
