No one in America cares about the UK — and members of Congress would struggle to name Andy Burnham, the journalist Mehdi Hasan has said, as female Labour MPs warn that the representation of women in the mayor’s cabinet is a “central issue”.
Hasan, who founded the media company Zeteo after a career at Al Jazeera and MSNBC, told the New Statesman’s The Exchange podcast that the US obsession with Britain is not reciprocated. “No,” he said when asked if America was following Keir Starmer’s resignation and Burnham’s likely elevation to Labour leader. He recalled a friend telling him 15 years ago that “no one cares about the UK” — a remark he dismissed as arrogant at the time. “And now here I am, saying the same thing to you!”
“Mehdi Hasan says US doesn't care about UK; female Labour MPs make women in Burnham's cabinet a central issue.”
Hasan, a former political editor of the New Statesman, said he had seen “little to no coverage of Andy Burnham in the mainstream media” in the US. “I know in the UK there’s this obsession with the United States, but it’s not returned,” he added. He argued that the “special relationship” is widely understood in Washington to refer to Israel, not the UK, and that while Americans “love Brits … British politics, no.”
Meanwhile, Harriet Harman, the former deputy leader of the Labour Party, has said the number of women in Burnham’s cabinet is a “central issue” for female Labour MPs. The comment, reported by Sky News, comes as Burnham prepares to take over after Starmer’s resignation. Harman’s intervention signals that gender balance will be a key test for the incoming leader as he assembles his top team.
The contrast between domestic priorities and international perception is stark: while female Labour MPs press for representation, the man who may soon become prime minister is virtually unknown to the US power élite. Hasan, who moved to America 12 years ago, warned that even politicians on Capitol Hill would struggle. “If you walk towards Capitol Hill and flag down a passing member of Congress, they would not be able to tell you Andy Burnham’s name. Many of them would struggle to tell you Keir Starmer’s name. These are members of Congress. I’m not talking about vox pops of people on the street.”
Burnham’s path to Downing Street will be shaped by these competing forces: a domestic party demanding gender parity, and an international stage where Britain’s leader is an afterthought.
