Andrew Neil, chairman of the American edition of The Spectator magazine, told Newsmax Friday that new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will "want to be good friends with America."
"He's not anti-American," Neil said during an appearance on Newsmax's "Newsline." "He's quite strong on defense. Foreign policy isn't going to change that much. Domestic policy will quite a bit. I think on the right of the political spectrum, you're going to see something of a realignment.
"The old Conservative Party is in some trouble. He's going to have to deal with [Reform UK party leader] Nigel Farage, who's the coming man on the right, and that will be difficult for the old conservatives, just like it was difficult for a lot of the old Republicans to come to terms with [former President] Donald Trump in the United States.
"So we're in a bit of a state of flux at the moment. But I think America, even with a Labour government, still has a reliable ally in Keir Starmer and his government," he continued.
"Britain is the second most important member of NATO after the United States, and this change of government will not change our relationship as a good, solid ally that believes in defense, believes in freedom, believes in democracy. So I think to that extent, America does not need to worry."
Starmer's center-left Labour Party won a landslide victory Thursday night in a parliamentary election that ended 14 years of often tumultuous Conservative government. The decisive result prompted Rishi Sunak's resignation on Friday morning, before Starmer went to meet King Charles III to be formally named prime minister.
When asked whether there was concern in the United Kingdom about the apparent cognitive decline of President Joe Biden, Neil deadpanned that the United States may have made the wrong decision in declaring its independence from England.
"You look at the state of Joe Biden, and you wonder whether you ever did the right thing to get rid of the monarchy," he said, chuckling after a beat. "It seems to me, when I look at the White House today, you took a terrible wrong turn in 1776."
He also commented on Trump's decision to publicly congratulate Brexit architect Farage on Truth Social for winning a seat in Parliament for the first time.
"It's interesting that Trump should send a message to Nigel Farage," Neil said. "That's fine; Nigel Farage is his mate [friend]. But I think, if you're going to be the next president, you ought to send a message of congratulations to the next prime minister of Britain as well."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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