LONDON, July 4 (Reuters) – U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Britain had been “failed by its leadership for a long time,” adding that he hoped the country’s next prime minister could deliver the structural change voters were seeking after years of political turmoil.
In an interview with the Sunday Times newspaper, Vance said frequent changes of government pointed to deeper problems in British politics. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced last month he would step down after two years in office, paving the way for Britain’s seventh prime minister in a decade.
Lawmaker Andy Burnham is widely expected to succeed Starmer after emerging as the sole candidate to replace the outgoing leader.
“What I see is six prime ministers in the last few years,” Vance told the newspaper. “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,” the vice president said, adding that “whoever the prime minister is figures out how to get Britain back on track.”
U.S.-UK SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
Vance, whose wife Usha studied at the University of Cambridge and who has frequently spoken of his affection for Britain, described the country as an “amazing place” with the “most amazing people in the world” outside the United States.
His comments come after a sometimes uneasy but largely functional relationship between Starmer and U.S. President Donald Trump.
The two leaders repeatedly stressed the importance of the U.S.-UK “special relationship” despite disagreements over issues including Iran, Gaza and Ukraine, while also securing trade and investment agreements between the two allies.
Reacting to Starmer’s resignation last month, Trump described him as a “lovely man” and a “sort of friend of mine,” but said that he had failed on immigration and energy policy.
Trump had added: “I wish him well.”
Trump has described Burnham as “extremely liberal” and suggested Britain’s next likely prime minister would be unlikely to support further North Sea oil and gas development — something the U.S. president had been asking Starmer to do.
In his interview with the Sunday Times, Vance said he did not know much about Burnham, but added that Britain remained one of Washington’s closest allies.
“Whoever is the prime minister, we’re going to work with them and work with them as successfully as we can,” he said.
(Reporting by Sam Tabahriti; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
