Andy Burnham launched the new No 10 North in Manchester on Wednesday, declaring the office would “get growth in every corner of the country”. Standing alongside his new Chancellor John Healey, the prime minister told assembled civil servants that the northern branch of Downing Street would “take that up to the next level” in rewiring the state. “It’s not just a new office – through this place power is going to flow, energy is going to flow,” he said.
The launch came as the prime minister’s wife, Marie-France van Heel, faced scrutiny over the lilac Victoria Beckham gown she wore to No 10 on Monday. The £890 dress, combined with a scraped-back hairstyle, drew criticism from some observers, who questioned the cost during a cost-of-living crisis. Van Heel, a Dutch-born marketing executive who met Burnham at Cambridge and has worked for BSkyB and the BBC, has a history of media attention, including a past dispute over her husband’s parliamentary expenses.
“Burnham opens No 10 North in Manchester as his wife's £890 dress prompts online criticism.”
Other ministers due at the Manchester hub on Friday include Angela Rayner, Pat McFadden, Jonathan Reynolds and Yvette Cooper. The Lib Dems said Burnham needed to prove No 10 North was more than a “working from home base” and would deliver for coastal and rural areas. Burnham brushed off such claims, saying he could already hear “London-based” voices calling it a “short-lived gimmick”. He argued it was better to have a “North Pole that balances the South Pole” than to have everyone travel to London for meetings.
Burnham will chair a meeting of the National Economic Council, bringing together senior ministers and regional mayors to “put devolution at the centre of the government’s mission to make Britain better”. Strategic decisions about devolution and local economic growth will shift from the Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to the new northern base.