Andy Burnham has promised a radical transfer of power from Whitehall to the North East and other regions of the UK, pledging to set up a No 10 North operation in Manchester to deliver the “biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen”. The would-be Prime Minister delivered a major speech in Manchester on Monday, outlining a vision to “rewire” the country and create “good growth in every postcode”.
Key Pledges and Support for North East Mayor
Burnham, the recently-elected MP for Makerfield, explicitly backed calls from North East mayor Kim McGuinness for regional leaders to be given far greater powers to combat the youth unemployment crisis. McGuinness had issued a plea last week for Burnham, who is widely expected to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as Prime Minister next month, to hand her new funding and responsibilities to get more young people into work, particularly in construction and retrofitting industries.
The North East has the highest rate in England of 16 to 24-year-olds not in employment, education or training (NEET) – 21%, totalling more than 64,000 young people, according to latest Government figures for 2025.
Devolution and Council House Building
Burnham told supporters at the People’s History Museum that he would “answer the call” from McGuinness for devolution of employment support and promised to give young people a “clear path into a reindustrialised Britain”, having pledged major reforms to create parity between academic and technical education. He also said No 10 North will oversee “the biggest council house building programme since the post-war period” and a “10-year mission” to raise living standards across the country.
McGuinness told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “This is what take back control looks like. We don’t want London taking all our decisions for us. The people in the North East know what is best for the North East. Just look at our young people. Families and businesses here want to see more opportunity for our young people. We’re going to take powers out of London in order to do exactly that, putting their local voice centre.”
Criticism and Reactions
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch claimed the UK faced a “summer of chaos” under Burnham, criticising his devolution aims and saying he “doesn’t have a plan beyond telling mayors to go and sort it out”. She added: “They will mean more power taken away from Parliament, but more and more government created all over the country. More politicians, more outsourcing of decisions to bodies with even less scrutiny and accountability.”
The Local Government Information Unit called Burnham’s address the “most ambitious statement on devolution we have seen from a senior politician in a generation” but cautioned that local authorities would need a massive increase in resources. Chief executive Jonathan Carr-West said: “We have seen ambitious visions before, and we have seen many governments come unstuck because of their failure to empower councils sufficiently. Local government is the operational front line of the state, and right now it is hollowed out and close to collapse. No 10 North, reindustrialisation, house building: none of this works without councils that have the capacity to deliver it.”
Mirte Boot, principal research fellow and interim head at north of England think tank IPPR North, said it was clear that “the status quo isn't working”. She added: “For two decades, IPPR North has seen successive governments promise change, transport spending, and regional growth in the North. But to drive real change, we must turn the system on its head, and power must be handed down to people and places. Mayors must be given the powers and capital to build local infrastructure like transport and housing, and we must see a push against Whitehall orthodoxy, so local leaders are given control over revenue and borrowing. This cannot just be words anymore. We have to see delivery. Devolution is for the whole country: when our regions prosper, so does the UK. This is not about north versus south, it is action versus inaction.”
