Overview
- Andy Burnham is the presumptive next prime minister after his Makerfield by‑election win and has set out a flagship 'No 10 North' proposal to base a Downing Street outpost in Manchester that would drive a major devolution programme.
- In a major speech on Monday he pledged a decade‑long mission to transfer powers and civil service jobs to mayors and combined authorities, with priorities of reindustrialisation, public ownership of utilities and a large council housebuilding programme.
- Senior figures from across politics, including Lord Heseltine, Housing Secretary Steve Reed and Angela Rayner, have publicly endorsed the devolution agenda while local mayors praised its focus on delivery for towns and cities.
- Critics and commentators warn the plan risks duplication, administrative incoherence and regional imbalances, and Westminster sources say civil service access talks and internal planning for a Burnham premiership are already under way.
- Markets, business groups and some MPs are pressing for immediate detail: they want Burnham to name a chancellor and set out costed fiscal and defence plans before a likely mid‑July handover, with observers noting past devolution efforts that stalled without such specifics.