[7] Burns cites following the Kennedy administration in the early 1960s as the point where he became interested in politics, saying "As you looked around the world you had a prime minister in Britain who was about 69, a president in France in his mid-70s and a chancellor in West Germany in his 80s.

[8] Before beginning his degree at Oxford, Burns spent nine months in the United States working for Senator George McGovern's ultimately unsuccessful presidential campaign against President Richard Nixon in 1972.

Following the Watergate scandal and Nixon's subsequent resignation in 1974, Burns would comment that McGovern's campaign had "won the argument, even if we lost the vote".

[13] In 2007, Burns persuaded the House of Commons Administration Committee, then being a member, that parliamentarians should have "priority access" to services within the Parliamentary Estate.

In practice, this meant that MPs and Peers could avoid queues for shops, restaurants, bars, computers, photocopiers and even toilets by "pushing in" ahead of visitors or staff.

The so-called "queue jumping rule" provoked cross-party opposition from Commons staff and other MPs but Burns trenchantly defended the proposal.

[15] On 29 June 2010, Burns called Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow, who stands at 5'6", a "stupid, sanctimonious dwarf" during a debate.

[18] In January 2013, Burns, when the minister overseeing rail fares, was revealed as having been making use of a ministerial car instead of travelling the 35 miles from his home in Essex to London by train.

Citing the big tent nature of American political parties, he argues "You can't just say that, because you’re a British Conservative, so you have to be a [U.S.] Republican.