What will European leaders make of Andy Burnham, the seventh UK prime minister they have had to deal with in a decade of chronic political instability in London unleashed by the fateful 2016 referendum vote to leave the European Union?

The “king of the north” is largely an unknown quantity in continental Europe and has given priority to a domestic agenda of devolving powers to regions and cities and extending state control of vital industries rather than to foreign policy. He may initially spend less time on diplomacy than his predecessor, Keir Starmer, whom critics branded “never here Keir” for his frequent foreign travel to support Ukraine, build European and Nato defence ties and try to rein in Donald Trump’s wrecking instincts in transatlantic relations.

Starmer had begun to restore some trust between Brussels and London after a long period of mutual suspicion and exasperation at the UK’s failure to implement fully the withdrawal agreement hastily negotiated by Boris Johnson. But he was cautious in resetting ties with the EU to avoid angering Labour leave voters. And the Treasury was as ever loth to pay to play in Europe.

Starmer was lauded for his co-leadership, with the French president Emmanuel Macron, of both the “coalition of the willing” working on security guarantees for Ukraine and the group of European nations preparing to ensure safe passage in the strait of Hormuz once the US and Iran stop fighting. Burnham is likely to maintain that role, which helped restore the UK’s standing as an important player in........

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