British PM Burnham (2R) helps to stack shelves with the help of London Mayor Khan (C) during a visit to a Sainbury’s supermarket in London. (AFP Photo)
Prime Minister Andy Burnham will host French President Emmanuel Macron in London next week, a U.K. government source said on Aug. 27, confirming the first visit by an EU leader since Burnham took office last month.
The British prime minister, who replaced Keir Starmer on July 20, will welcome Macron during a visit to the U.K. capital by France’s president, the source said.
It comes days before the British Museum’s landmark Bayeux Tapestry exhibition opens to the public on Sept. 10, with Macron having played an instrumental role in the historic loan of the medieval work.
The 11th-century tapestry, which arrived in London last month after leaving France for the first time in more than 900 years, will be on display until next July.
Macron announced the Bayeux deal last year after years of discussions and false starts, hailing it as a celebration of Franco-British relations.
It followed several years of strained ties between London and European capitals over Brexit, which recent U.K. governments have sought to repair following Britain’s acrimonious 2020 departure from the bloc.
Starmer swept to power in July 2024 promising to reset European Union relations and was widely seen as having made some headway.
London and Brussels reached a landmark defense and trade pact in May 2025 and this year agreed that Britain will rejoin the bloc’s Erasmus student exchange program from 2027.
