Following the 2001 general election Burden became a member of the Trade and Industry Select Committee, and after the 2005 election moved to the International Development Committee. His Birmingham Northfield constituency was long dominated by the local car manufacturer MG Rover, which went into administration after negotiations with Chinese car manufacturer Shanghai Automotive failed in April 2005. The site has since been sold to Chinese car company Nanjing Automotive. He was present at the meeting in Birmingham with the Labour government's leaders Tony Blair and Gordon Brown along with Tony Woodley on 8 April 2005 when the future of MG Rover was decided. The Labour government decided not to give further support to MG Rover and consequently the company entered into administrative receivership, with 6,500 employees being made redundant in addition to many other employees of its car dealerships and component suppliers in the United Kingdom. Burden, as the MP for Northfield which included Longbridge, raised the issue in Parliament from time to time, in relation to the local economy, jobs and skills. Burden voted against his own Labour government on a few occasions, most notably on the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the 2005 anti-terror bill, which included a provision to hold terrorist suspects for 90 days without trial. He was re-elected at the May 2010 general election. He was not invited to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Longbridge in June 2011 and complained bitterly to the local press at being excluded; it is not known why he was 'excluded', when other leading local politicians were invited, though he suggested it was a decision made by the then-Conservative-run City Council. Together with close friend and fellow ex-Young Liberal Peter Hain MP, he was an enthusiastic supporter of the unsuccessful Alternative Vote system in the May 2011 referendum.
Frontbench
Burden became Shadow Transport Minister under Ed Miliband in 2013, with responsibility for roads and road safety, motor agencies, cycling and future transport. He retained a Shadow Ministerial role under Jeremy Corbyn after he was elected as party leader in 2015. Burden resigned from this position following a vote of no confidence in Corbyn by members of the Parliamentary party, telling Corbyn he was "making a bad situation worse" by choosing to remain Labour leader. He supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election. He rejoined the frontbench as Shadow Transport Minister in October 2016, with responsibility for aviation, maritime, roads and future transport. He stayed in this post until the 2017 general election, after which he stood down from the frontbench to join the International Development Committee. In the 2016 United Kingdom referendum on membership of the European Union he supported Remain; however, the majority of his constituents in Birmingham Northfield voted Leave. In the United Kingdom general election held on 12 December 2019, he lost his seat to the Conservative candidate, Gary Sambrook, who won by a majority of 1640 votes; Burden received 18,317 votes to Sambrook's 19,957 votes.
Interests
Burden was Chair of the Palestine All Party Parliamentary Group and frequently asked questions of ministers on issues relating to the Middle East conflict. He was one of the most prominent parliamentary critics of Israeli policy in the region, particularly with regard to its expansion of settlements in the West Bank. He was also Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Motor Group. He speaks French and is an avid motorsport fan. In 2002 he became the special advisor to the Minister of Sport, Richard Caborn on motorsport. He appeared on the Top Gear Season 2, Episode 2 special to find the fastest political party.
