After Midterm Sweep, Burnham Presses for Hormuz Reopening as GOP Insiders Blame Iran War and European Gas Falls 2%

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said today, Nov. 4, that the Democratic sweep of Congress gives the world an "opportunity" to focus on ending the Iran war and easing living costs. He spoke to reporters at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua.

Asked whether the blow to Donald Trump could make him more unpredictable, Burnham said: "President Trump has accepted the results, and I feel the world has an opportunity now to unite around the issue that is affecting us all, and that's the cost of living."

He tied the two issues together. "I can't get people's cost of living pressures down until the conflict in the Middle East is resolved," Burnham said, adding that the same applies to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Britain's ask on Iran

Pressed on whether London would push for de-escalation, Burnham was direct. "I'll be working for de-escalation," he said. "We want to see a resolution, the Strait of Hormuz fully opened again."

He said he will make the same request in his calls with other leaders. Burnham, who says he has been in Downing Street for three months, also pointed to a new British approach in the Middle East. His foreign secretary has announced sanctions tied to illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

Burnham declined to describe the U.S. result as part of a global retreat of the populist right, despite recent elections in Brazil, Serbia and Hungary. His reading was narrower: voters want countries focused on "the things that matter to people."

What the vote looked like

Democrats took control of both chambers. They won Senate seats in Texas, Kansas, South Carolina, Ohio, Maine and Iowa. They flipped House seats in Kentucky, New Jersey, Indiana and North Carolina.

The Independent reports that Trump has acknowledged the war hurt Republicans, saying people "didn't like it" when they had to pay more for fuel. He maintains he has no regrets about launching the conflict. His first reaction to the results was to blame the candidates themselves.

Trump's orbit splits on the cause

The Daily Wire spoke to Republican operatives and people close to the White House, mostly unnamed, and found broad agreement that Iran was the main driver of the losses. "This is 100% because of Iran," one national GOP operative told the outlet. "The economic anxiety is directly correlated with the war."

Another source close to the White House texted: "It's the war, stupid."

A senior administration official told the outlet that even staff who support the war think Trump should have wrapped it up. A former administration official urged him to "quickly end the war on our terms, declare victory" and return to domestic issues.

Not everyone in that orbit blames the war alone. One operative pointed to Trump's approval rating, calling him the "least popular president going back to Truman" heading into a midterm.

The White House has its own explanation. Its officials described their mood as "defiant" by 10 p.m. on election night and said: "President Trump was not on the ballot, and it's proven that Trump voters show up when he is on the ballot."

The same sources cite a secured southern border and culture-war wins as Republican accomplishments. Trump campaigned in nearly two dozen states over the final month and told voters to act as if he were on the ballot.

Energy markets wait

European gas prices fell about 2% as traders waited on Trump's next move in Iran, according to OilPrice.com. The Strait of Hormuz is the chokepoint Burnham wants reopened, and fuel costs are the link the White House's own critics draw between the war and the vote.

U.S. markets had not yet opened as of 9:28 a.m. ET, so there is no regular-session U.S. price move to report.

Democrats look ahead

Former Chicago mayor and ex-ambassador Rahm Emanuel, who hinted at a 2028 presidential run on "Fox & Friends" today, called the results a "repudiation of President Trump." He urged Democrats to pair investigations with a sweeping ethics package. He argued that what the party does in 2027 will decide whether it has truly won.

Some other races were decided on cultural questions. Early, unofficial returns showed ballot measures limiting girls' school sports to biological females leading in Washington (57% to 43% with about 60% counted), Arizona (59% to 41% with about 83% counted) and Colorado (52% to 48% with roughly 75% counted).

The open question

Burnham says the Iran war must be resolved before household costs can fall, and Trump's own allies are telling reporters the same thing about his political standing. Trump has not given up the war or its aims. Whether he takes the off-ramp that his critics and some of his own aides are urging, or digs in, is what traders in Europe are waiting to find out.