Regional mayors are set to play a leading role in shaping the UK’s economic policy, Andy Burnham said, describing the launch of No 10 North as the most significant redistribution of power the country has witnessed.
The new prime minister has reinstated the National Economic Council (NEC), originally created by Gordon Brown to steer the government through the 2008 financial crisis, arguing that fostering economic growth demands the same urgency, focus and collective effort.
In a Guardian article, he wrote: “When I entered Downing Street, I told staff that the era of resisting devolution is over. Nobody in government loses when power is shared.”
Burnham will chair the council’s inaugural meeting on Friday, gathering senior ministers and regional mayors to embed devolution at the core of his government’s agenda.
Burnham noted: “Even though Whitehall departments have established outposts, decision‑making authority remains concentrated in London. Correcting this imbalance is what No 10 North aims to achieve, and if successful it could usher in a much‑needed transformation in how Britain is governed.”
He continued: “It means driving growth from the nation’s most powerful office while working closely with the Treasury, and shifting authority to those best placed to use it.”
As the first British prime minister to operate the government on a weekly basis from Manchester, Burnham will need to demonstrate that the initiative is substantive rather than merely symbolic.
Earlier this week he established a new prime minister’s department drawing on elements of the Cabinet Office, the Treasury and the housing ministry, intended to become the “dominant driver of the UK’s economy”—a move that appears to tension with the No 10 North concept.
Among his first steps, Burnham created the Office for the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, to be headed by his ally and enforcer Louise Haigh, which will oversee No 10 North in Manchester, the London‑based No 10 operation, and portions of the Cabinet Office.
Haigh, together with Education Secretary Lucy Powell and Communities Secretary Angela Rayner—both representing Greater Manchester constituencies—plan to split their time between No 10 North and their London offices, while teams of civil servants are slated for relocation to the northern hub.
With regional mayors invited to join the discussions, Downing Street maintains that devolution will be anchored at the heart of economic decision‑making, honouring the prime minister’s promise that choices will be made alongside local leaders, not merely for them.
Based in Heron House, Manchester’s city‑centre premises that also house the northwestern hub of GCHQ, No 10 North is designed to consolidate the tools of local economic growth and devolution under a single roof for the first time, operating from one unified plan rather than competing strategies.
Burnham expects to work from No 10 North each week, ensuring that decisions about the nation’s economic future are no longer made exclusively at Westminster, with other ministers also regularly stationed in the building.
Dave Penman, general secretary of the FDA union that represents senior civil servants, welcomed the governmental restructuring but warned that relocating staff constitutes a major decision for those affected.
At least seven employees of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, including Burnham’s deputy chief of staff Caroline Simpson and longtime aide Kevin Lee, have already moved into the temporary premises while a brownfield site is prepared. The Heron House office will be directed by Sam Lister, a senior civil servant with experience across several departments.
The NEC’s membership will vary from meeting to meeting according to the topics under discussion, inviting business leaders, trade unions and other stakeholders whose expertise can inform policy.
During Gordon Brown’s premiership, the council convened twice weekly, serving as the focal point of his administration’s response to the recession, the global financial‑market crisis and fluctuating prices, although critics warned it could undermine the Treasury’s authority.
The new body was quickly likened to an economic counterpart of the Cobra emergency committee. It featured figures such as then‑Chancellor Alistair Darling and former Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, and played a key role in coordinating the emergency bailouts of the banking sector.
In his Guardian piece, Burnham argued that the Manchester office will be essential to his goal of “driving re‑industrialisation and growth in every postcode of the United Kingdom.”
He added: “It will eliminate obstacles to regeneration—whether that means building council homes or upgrading public transport—and crucially, No 10 North will align the whole of Whitehall behind communities rather than working against them.”
“Our ultimate aim is straightforward: to achieve comparable living standards across all regions and nations of the UK.”
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