LONDON - Little known on the international stage, Andy Burnham is expected to broadly maintain Keir Starmer’s position on major foreign policy issues as Britain’s next prime minister.

This includes bolstering London’s close ties with Kyiv and plans to strengthen relations with the European Union after the rancour of the Brexit years.

But in line with a growing clamour on the left wing of the Labour party angered by the Gaza conflict, he could take a tougher line on Israel.

Here are some of the foreign policy issues already crowding Burnham’s in-tray:

Israel and Gaza

The sharpest departure in the new government’s foreign policy could be over Israel.

The Guardian quoted Burnham as saying that many people thought the outgoing government “didn’t get it right” in its response to Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza following the October 2023 attack by Hamas militants.https://www.straitstimes.com/world/middle-east/sirens-warning-of-incoming-rockets-sound-around-gaza-near-tel-aviv?ref=inline-article

“I am sorry about that. The response has too often not been good enough. We need to do better,” the paper quoted him as saying earlier in July.

Since Starmer took office in July 2024, his Labour government has sanctio...