Andy Burnham has launched No 10 North in Manchester, declaring the office would bring "growth in every corner of the country" — but the prime minister's first day working from the northern branch was overshadowed by fresh scrutiny of his wife's role in a past expenses dispute.
With new Chancellor John Healey standing behind him, Burnham told assembled civil servants that the shift north showed he was rewiring the state, adding: "No 10 North is going to take that up to the next level." The branch of Downing Street in north-west England forms part of Burnham's aim to shift power from Whitehall and Westminster to regions.
“Andy Burnham launches No 10 North in Manchester as wife Marie-France van Heel faces renewed scrutiny over expenses.”
Other ministers meeting at the Manchester hub on Friday included Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper, Environment Secretary Angela Eagle, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed No 10 North as a "gimmick", saying it "does not make decision-making any better, it's just creating another branch of the civil service in a different place". Burnham countered: "It's not just a new office — through this place power is going to flow, energy is going to flow, new ideas are going to come through."
The launch came as Marie-France van Heel, Burnham's wife of 25 years, was back in the headlines. The Dutch-born marketing executive wore a lilac Victoria Beckham gown costing £890 to No 10 on Monday, drawing criticism over its cost during a cost-of-living crisis. But a more serious controversy resurfaced: during her husband's time as an MP, van Heel "took up the baton, faxing detailed notes 'on behalf of Andy Burnham MP' to parliamentary officials, asking them to approve expenses they had previously rejected", according to The Telegraph. Burnham had earlier told the Parliamentary Fees office that his wife would divorce him if he was not reimbursed for refurbishments.
Van Heel, who met Burnham at Cambridge, once appeared on Blind Date while already dating him, throwing a cushion at contestant "Will from Surrey" — who later became the Conservative Party's marketing director. She has worked at BSkyB, run her own agency MVH Marketing, and served as chief strategy officer at Heavenly, handling campaigns for England Rugby, the BBC and HSBC.
On a personal level, she lost her sister to breast cancer and, carrying the BRCA1 gene mutation, opted for a pre-emptive double mastectomy.
Burnham insisted the move north would not be short-lived. "There'll be many voices out there, I can hear them all already, often London based… They like to say, 'Oh, this will just be the new levelling up, or another sort of short-lived gimmick'. What does it cost for everybody to troop down to London every time there's a meeting?" he asked. "Isn't it better that we have a North Pole that balances the South Pole of our country, where power will always be concentrated?"