Andy Burnham is marking his inaugural day as prime minister by working from the newly established northern branch of Downing Street. This site, located in Manchester, serves as a cornerstone for the administration’s pledge to decentralize authority away from London and toward various UK regions.
Cabinet ministers Lucy Powell and Louise Haigh are expected to maintain a regular presence at the location, which aims to house 300 civil servants by the end of next year. On Friday, Burnham will preside over a National Economic Council meeting, a body established in 2008 to address national financial volatility. The prime minister stated that decades of resource concentration in the capital have left many communities feeling neglected, declaring that the era of central government resistance to devolution has concluded.
The Manchester office will oversee strategic decisions regarding regional growth and devolution, tasks previously handled by the Treasury and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Angela Rayner, whose constituency is in Greater Manchester, is also expected to begin working from the hub on Friday. Burnham plans to engage with business leaders from groups like the Confederation of British Industry to discuss investment strategies.
Meanwhile, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has criticized the initiative, suggesting Burnham is prioritizing local-level politics over the duties of a prime minister. She urged him to address broader concerns such as high energy costs for businesses and national defence funding. Current plans suggest the office will operate out of Heron House in central Manchester, with a permanent facility slated for completion in the Ancoats area by 2032.
