Trans activists share true feelings on potential prime minister Andy Burnham
Munroe Bergdorf and India Willoughby shared their thoughts on Andy Burnham (Getty Images)
Trans activists Munroe Bergdorf and India Willoughby have shared their thoughts on Labour’s Andy Burnham potentially becoming the UK’s next prime minister.
Speaking at the Attitude PRIDE Awards on 4 July, journalist Willoughby was asked if she had any hope for the trans community.
“Not really. I get the impression that the Labour machine is too great to actually turn around,” she said.
“Andy Burnham at the end of the day is one individual and we’ve already seen early signs that he’s having to comply and maybe water down his true feelings to actually get the gig as Prime Minister, which is really disappointing.”
READ MORE: Andy Burnham’s record on LGBTQ+ issues as he’s expected to go for Labour leadership
She continued: “We need strong politicians at this time when all minorities, not just trans people, Black people, Asian people, gay people, everybody who isn’t straight, cis, Christian is under attack.”
However, Bergdorf shared that she feels more hopeful about the future of trans rights in the UK, saying: “I have always got hope for our community because we have to.”
The model and activist continued: “We are a community built on hope. Transition itself is a form of hope. But, you know, I am open-minded. I don’t want to go into this cabinet thinking that it’s going to be a failure before it is.”
She went on to say that she feels “cautiously optimistic” about the future. “I really, really hope that they listen to the community and get things right this time,” she concluded.
Andy Burnham’s LGBTQ+ views
Despite being Catholic, Burnham has a strong history of being a vocal ally to the LGBTQ+ community – something he previously told PinkNews damaged relationships with members of his own family.
Burnham has been a vocal ally of trans people too, defending the rights of trans women to use women’s toilets in 2022 despite backlash from “gender-critical” campaigners.
However, he has also drawn some criticism. In 2020, he met with the LGB Alliance to discuss reforms to the Gender Recognition Act. The group is regularly criticised by other members of the LGBTQ+ community for their views on trans rights. But a statement released said Burnham had “made his support for the trans community very clear over the years.”
This year, after the 2025 Supreme Court ruling which defined sex as “biological sex” only, Burnham said the EHRC guidance should be introduced “in the fairest and most compassionate way possible”.
He went on to say that single-sex spaces should be protected, but without “marginalising already marginalised communities”.
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