Andy Burnham is working for the first time as British Prime Minister from the Manchester office
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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will on Friday open a new government base in Manchester called “No. 10 North” in a nod to his office at 10 Downing Street in London, as he seeks to move economic decisions away from the capital.
Burnham, who became prime minister on Monday after taking over from Keir Starmer, is moving quickly to put his stamp on the government, and the new base in the north of England aims to signal a shift away from what he says has been decades of economic decision-making being centered in London.
No. 10 North will initially operate from Heron House in central Manchester, the city-centre building that houses Britain’s intelligence, cyber and security center in the north. Plans for a new government building campus elsewhere in the city are underway, but it will take years to complete.
Burnham is expected to work in the Manchester area each week, while other ministers will use the office regularly, the government said. The town of around 600,000, known for its football clubs and the former music scene of “Madchester”, is 300 kilometers north-west of London.
It’s unclear how much the move will cost for the added security. British media this week reported that an unspecified number of civil servants working in Whitehall government offices in London were being offered relocation packages.
“Britain does not need more decisions in Whitehall,” Burnham said on social media on Friday. “It needs more power in the hands of people and places that know their communities well. That’s exactly what No. 10 North will deliver.”
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch of the Conservative Party questioned whether Burnham’s focus translated into national government, saying he was “acting like he was the mayor of Manchester” and needed to focus on the country’s wider challenges. Some political rivals have questioned the cost of the move, at a time when public finances are under pressure.
Burnham has cast his premiership as a “district ruler” in politics in recent years. The move to open an office in Manchester reflects the mayor’s old argument that power should be devolved from Westminster to cities and counties.
Andy Burnham is expected to become UK prime minister following Keir Starmer’s resignation. Nationally, CBC’s Chris Brown breaks down how the former mayor of Greater Manchester won over voters and asks: is it enough to fix a broken Britain?
Burnham on Friday was due to chair the first meeting of the renewed National Economic Council, a cabinet-level body that brings together chief ministers and regional mayors to coordinate the government’s economic growth strategy.
The council was first set up in London during the 2008 financial crisis by Gordon Brown, then prime minister, to coordinate the government’s response to the economic downturn.
Burnham’s political past includes serving as an MP in the Labor government of Brown and his predecessor, Tony Blair.
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