Andy Burnham launches No10 North with senior ministers set to work from Manchester base
Cabinet Ministers like Lucy Powell, Angela Rayner and Louise Haigh are expected to work from Heron House, in Manchester, regularly.
Andy Burnham has said he wants to “get Britain hoping again” as he opened a new headquarters for the centre of Government in Manchester.
The Prime Minister is expected to work at No10 North, at Heron House in Manchester, once each week during his premiership, as part of his move to push power out of Westminster.
Cabinet Ministers like Lucy Powell, Angela Rayner and Louise Haigh are expected to work from there more often.
He described opening the new base as the “best day of my life” as he spoke to staff and ministers there this morning, and said it was a “full circle” experience for him, as he had to leave the North West to start his career.
Mr Burnham added: “And it’s true of places all over the country to get on in life, you had to leave where you were because things weren’t here.
“The country has always been a little like that, hasn’t it?
“That opportunity has not been evenly spread around the country, and not all places have felt that they are part of the national story, and that is what this Government is going to work every single day to change.
“And that is what No10 North is all about: putting power in every postcode so that people can turn things around for themselves and make changes, just as this great city has done, and the other English cities are doing through devolution, turning things round because of that ability to be able to do more for themselves.”
The Prime Minister insisted No10 North was key to getting “good growth going in every part of the country”.
No10 North is currently based out of Heron House, the spy agency GCHQ’s northern base since 2019.
It’s an easy first location for the Downing Street’s Manchester base as it has the security protections required for the Prime Minister.
As one source told Politico: “It’s got a bomb-proof room." This is only a temporary solution, with a site being sought for a purpose build base.
Civil servants are already working from Heron House and the Government is reportedly offering relocation packages for staff in London to move to Manchester.
There are already around 80,000 civil servants based in the North West, however, as Northern Powerhouse Parternship chief executive Henri Murison says, the real difference will be Cabinet Ministers going there regularly.
Louise Haigh, Angela Rayner and Lucy Powell are all set to spend a considerable amount of time in No10 North, along side the Prime Minister himself, who will work at least one day a week in Manchester.
He added: “I mean it when I say every postcode, everybody. That’s what we’ve got to do. Nowhere forgotten, everywhere feeling heard, everyone with a sense that their place can be more than it is today.
“High streets lifted around the country, Britain reindustrialised, getting those good jobs back into all of our regions. We’ve got such an opportunity, everybody, ahead of us. I said I wanted to get Britain believing again. Today is a day where we hopefully can really build that sense. Get Britain hoping again.
“I think we can we can do that together if we carry on working in this in this way. So it is such a such an amazing moment for me. It’s everything I believe in. Everything I’ve spent my whole life working towards.”
Mr Burnham also spoke about wanting to create a “one-team feeling” across the whole of the UK, and insisted No10 North was “as much for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as it is for the regions of England”.
“If we get that feeling, then I think so much is possible that doesn’t feel possible right now, and we can really get the energy flowing right around the country,” he said.
The new Prime Minister met face-to-face for the first time on Thursday with Scottish First Minister John Swinney, and told him that another independence referendum is “off limits”.
He also met with Wales’s First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth in Glasgow, who pushed for the Welsh Government to be given the same devolved powers as those available to Scotland, including over rail, policing, justice and the Crown Estate.
Concluding his speech at No10 North, Mr Burnham railed against critics – “often London based” – who he claimed will see the project as a “gimmick”.
The Prime Minister added: “What does it cost for everybody to troop down to London every time there’s a meeting when you need to make an argument about something?
“What does that cost? So actually, isn’t it better that we have a north pole that balances the south pole of our country, where power will always be concentrated?
“At least it creates that sense of a more balanced country, and that big things can be done from here.”
Among those who joined Mr Burnham at No10 North, a building which is also home to GCHQ’s Manchester and North West hub, were senior ministers Chancellor John Healey, First Secretary of State Ms Haigh, and the country’s top civil servant, Cabinet Secretary Antonia Romeo.
His deputy chief of staff, Caroline Simpson, the former Greater Manchester Combined Authority chief executive, will be based out of No10 North, while his closest advisor Kevin Lee is also set to move into the building after the mayoral election.
Mr Burnham has poached seven GMCA employees as part of his move to Downing Street, with the majority based in Heron House.