Andy Burnham vows to set up No 10 North as ‘nerve centre of rewired Britain’

Andy Burnham has pledged to set up a ‘No 10 North’ as part of a plan to ‘bring about the biggest rebalancing of power the country has ever seen’. In his first major policy speech since launching a bid to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister, the Makerfield MP and former Greater Manchester mayor laid out his vision at the People’s History Museum in Manchester. Burnham promised to move money and power out of Whitehall and hand more of it to regions, towns and councils across the country, describing the proposed northern base as the ‘nerve centre of rewired Britain’. The speech marks a dramatic escalation in Burnham’s campaign to become the UK’s next prime minister, with the leadership contender positioning himself as a champion of regional equality. He has not yet set out a detailed timetable for the shift, but his central pitch is simple: end the concentration of power in London and Westminster. Burnham previously served as mayor of Greater Manchester, a role that gave him direct experience of devolved governance. Now, he is seeking the highest office in the land, promising to fundamentally reshape how Britain is run.