What Britain’s new leader is learning from Donald Trump

A Lesson in Authenticity

Burnham's political success depends on his ability to turn Britain away from the wave of nationalist populism that gave the world Donald Trump. That has not stopped the U.K.'s incoming prime minister from studying the president's rise, and — deliberately or not — embracing some of his methods for the political battles with the British right that lie ahead.

Burnham, the new leader of the center-left Labour Party, takes over as U.K. prime minister on Monday. He has been catapulted into power by his colleagues, who fear being wiped out at the next general election after months of missteps and scandals under outgoing premier Keir Starmer. The far-right populist Reform UK party — founded five years ago and led by Trump ally Nigel Farage — has stormed the board in recent elections across the country, shattering Labour's traditional strongholds and leading opinion polls nationally for more than a year.

Labour MPs hope Burnham can be the fresh-faced outsider to revive the party's wilting relationship with the increasingly cynical voters it has lost. He has been clear for years about the party's task: If Labour fails, British politics, he says, are in danger of following the United States and electing the most right-wing government it has ever seen.

Channeling Anger

There are signs that what drives both Trump and Burnham is a personal resentment at the political elites who once sneered at them — and a desire to upend the old hierarchy of snobs. Many commentators have spoken of how the president's experience suffering the scorn of America's wealthy and powerful elites in his previous role as a real estate mogul and celebrity motivated his political mission.

Critically, Trump's ability to convey that sense of being dismissed by the establishment resonated with voters who feel cast aside by the same elites. Burnham, if anything, has been even more direct than Trump about his own hang-ups. In 'Head North,' Burnham and his co-author Steve Rotheram described being treated like 'second-class citizens' in their previous roles as MPs by the elitist politicians in London: 'We want you to know how it felt to hear those sneering voices in the corridors of power.'

Devolution Agenda

Burnham believes replicating the way he ran Manchester for nine years as mayor can transform the U.K. and bring hope to forgotten communities. His blueprint for Britain, as proposed in 'Head North' at least, contains at its heart a radical transfer of power out of London and to communities and regions around the country.