To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedKate WhannelPolitical reporter29 June 2026, 14:17 BSTUpdated 1 hour agoA new Downing Street team based in Manchester and labelled ‘No 10 North’ will “oversee the biggest rebalancing of power our country has ever seen”, Andy Burnham has said in his first speech since launching a bid to be the next prime minister.In a speech which outlined his broader vision, he pledged to redistribute power across the UK in an effort to “drive good growth in every postcode”.He also promised the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period; a “complete rethink” of education and cuts to welfare.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Burnham backed devolution because he “doesn’t know what to do so he wants to pass the problem to someone else”.Burnham announced his intention to stand as prime minister to replace Sir Keir Starmer last Monday, shortly after being elected as the MP for Makerfield. So far, he is the only Labour MP to announce, and if he remains the sole candidate he could become the next prime minister as early as 20 July. Speaking at the People’s History Museum, Burnham addressed an audience which included Steve Rotheram, Tracy Brabin and Oliver Coppard – his former mayoral colleagues from Liverpool, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.He provided an overview of the direction his government would take but did not provide a detailed plan and, unusually for a political speech, did not take questions at the end.His key message was a commitment to devolving power to local communities away from senior civil servants in Whitehall, which Burnham said had “blocked” progress in Manchester.”It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down – it can only be nurtured from the bottom up.”He did not spell out what would be given to different areas but suggested regions would see “greater public control of essential services” such as water, energy and transport and that London could have more say over education and housing.He also said there would be “new opportunities to extend devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by taking power deeper down”.”The people of Dundee and Bangor feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster,” he added.He argued that distributing power across the country would “give Britain the circuit-breaker it needs”. The new No 10 North unit would, he said, be the tool to achieve this, making “power flow” across the country and supporting regions in three tasks – reform of essential utilities, reindustrialisation and regeneration.Labour’s 2024 manifesto promised to roll out devolution powers to new areas and to extend powers in those areas where mayors and combined authorities were already established.In February 2025, Angela Rayner, then the local government secretary, announced plans for six mayors in Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Essex, Hampshire and Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton.PA MediaWhat are Andy Burnham’s potential policies for No 10?3 hours agoHenry Zeffman: Andy Burnham offers a blueprint for his premiership7 hours agoBurnham will need a Moscow test as well as Makerfield test, says ex-military chief1 day agoOne of the biggest rows between Labour backbench MPs and Sir Keir concerned his attempts to cut the welfare bill.Burnham has previously said he wouldn’t be “squeamish” about reducing the bill and his speech promised to find cuts in a “way that is fair and lasting”, adding: “Where young people need mental health support, that will be provided as part of in-work support.”He also said employment support could be devolved to mayors and that more help should be provided through the grassroots organisations that “people trust… rather than going to places that they fear”.Former Labour minister Alan Milburn, who served alongside Burnham in the last Labour government, is currently carrying out a review into ways of getting young people into work.Burnham said he was taking his findings seriously and that there needed to be a “complete rethink of how we support the next generation to succeed”, adding: “It has to start with the edu …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.This video can not be playedKate WhannelPolitical reporter29 June 2026, 14:17 BSTUpdated 1 hour agoA new Downing Street team based in Manchester and labelled ‘No 10 North’ will “oversee the biggest rebalancing of power our country has ever seen”, Andy Burnham has said in his first speech since launching a bid to be the next prime minister.In a speech which outlined his broader vision, he pledged to redistribute power across the UK in an effort to “drive good growth in every postcode”.He also promised the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period; a “complete rethink” of education and cuts to welfare.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Burnham backed devolution because he “doesn’t know what to do so he wants to pass the problem to someone else”.Burnham announced his intention to stand as prime minister to replace Sir Keir Starmer last Monday, shortly after being elected as the MP for Makerfield. So far, he is the only Labour MP to announce, and if he remains the sole candidate he could become the next prime minister as early as 20 July. Speaking at the People’s History Museum, Burnham addressed an audience which included Steve Rotheram, Tracy Brabin and Oliver Coppard – his former mayoral colleagues from Liverpool, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire.He provided an overview of the direction his government would take but did not provide a detailed plan and, unusually for a political speech, did not take questions at the end.His key message was a commitment to devolving power to local communities away from senior civil servants in Whitehall, which Burnham said had “blocked” progress in Manchester.”It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down – it can only be nurtured from the bottom up.”He did not spell out what would be given to different areas but suggested regions would see “greater public control of essential services” such as water, energy and transport and that London could have more say over education and housing.He also said there would be “new opportunities to extend devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by taking power deeper down”.”The people of Dundee and Bangor feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster,” he added.He argued that distributing power across the country would “give Britain the circuit-breaker it needs”. The new No 10 North unit would, he said, be the tool to achieve this, making “power flow” across the country and supporting regions in three tasks – reform of essential utilities, reindustrialisation and regeneration.Labour’s 2024 manifesto promised to roll out devolution powers to new areas and to extend powers in those areas where mayors and combined authorities were already established.In February 2025, Angela Rayner, then the local government secretary, announced plans for six mayors in Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Essex, Hampshire and Solent, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Sussex and Brighton.PA MediaWhat are Andy Burnham’s potential policies for No 10?3 hours agoHenry Zeffman: Andy Burnham offers a blueprint for his premiership7 hours agoBurnham will need a Moscow test as well as Makerfield test, says ex-military chief1 day agoOne of the biggest rows between Labour backbench MPs and Sir Keir concerned his attempts to cut the welfare bill.Burnham has previously said he wouldn’t be “squeamish” about reducing the bill and his speech promised to find cuts in a “way that is fair and lasting”, adding: “Where young people need mental health support, that will be provided as part of in-work support.”He also said employment support could be devolved to mayors and that more help should be provided through the grassroots organisations that “people trust… rather than going to places that they fear”.Former Labour minister Alan Milburn, who served alongside Burnham in the last Labour government, is currently carrying out a review into ways of getting young people into work.Burnham said he was taking his findings seriously and that there needed to be a “complete rethink of how we support the next generation to succeed”, adding: “It has to start with the edu …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
