Burnham ‘confident’ after Trump’s midterms hammering

Sophie Wingate, Press Association Deputy Political Editor

Andy Burnham has suggested his confidence has been boosted after the crushing midterm election defeats for US President Donald Trump’s Republicans, and as voters around the world shift away from populism and seek “something more hopeful”.

Mr Trump’s party was stripped of control of the Senate and the House of Representatives following a string of historic losses in one-time Republican strongholds.

The midterms have sparked a debate about a wider decline of the popular right globally, following elections in Brazil, Serbia and Hungary.

Asked how he was handling the right in Britain during a trip to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua, the Prime Minister told The Economist: “I think the pendulum – obviously, in the days we’ve been away, the pendulum has swung away from populism in other parts of the world.

“And so we’ve got to be confident in the moment that we’re in.

“I think people are looking for something more hopeful, something different, more unified.”

Mr Burnham said the result and the US president’s reaction presented “an opportunity to refocus around the issue that everyone everywhere is struggling with, and that’s cost of living”.

He continued: “I mean, that’s clear from the results.

“It’s clearly the big issue in the UK and it’s what I’ve been focused on in the last 100 days, my first 100 days.

“It’s impacting people everywhere.

“We’ve been hearing it from leaders here in the Commonwealth.

“So that’s the opportunity, and of course that means finding resolution to conflict in the Middle East and in Ukraine.”