Andy Burnham’s plan for Britain starts above a Manchester cocktail bar
A look at the prime minister's Manchester office “No. 10 North” — and what it reveals about his political ambitions.
On the day Andy Burnham concluded his nine-year tenure as Manchester's mayor, the city bestowed upon him a symbolic chair adorned with its distinctive worker-bee emblem and the message "we do things differently here." A month later, Burnham left for 10 Downing Street in London, the historic residence home to six previous British prime ministers in the past decade.
However, the cherished worker-bee chair remained in Manchester. Burnham now calls this refurbished 1980s office block, known as "No. 10 North," his auxiliary seat of power. The location, situated above a discount cocktail bar, serves as Burnham's comfort zone, a place he frequents before returning home to his family in Manchester.
The prime minister aims to centralize Whitehall's power, previously concentrated in London's civil service buildings, by shifting some of it to No. 10 North. This move is part of Burnham's broader plan to redistribute power and finances from the capital to England's former industrial heartlands, an area he believes is crucial for reversing the political polarization and addressing the decline of these regions.
While some views No. 10 North as a gimmick, Burnham's deputy chief of staff, Caroline Simpson, describes it as an embodiment of his commitment to empower local leaders in the north.
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