Mancunians have made hilarious calls for the location of the proposed 'No.10 of the north' including the budget Sacha's Britannia Hotel and a famous Coronation Street café.
Andy Burnham's Devolution Plan
Makerfield MP Andy Burnham, who could become Labour leader and prime minister next month, announced a proposed 'No 10 North' office. In a speech on Monday (June 29), he revealed a radical plan to shift decision-making power away from Whitehall in the biggest plan to transfer authority to England’s regions in modern times.
The former Greater Manchester mayor, and recently crowned Makerfield MP, said a ‘Number 10 in the North’ will be ‘the nerve centre for a rewired Britain’. Its new home will ultimately be the Manchester Digital Campus, currently under construction on the site of a former retail park in Ancoats. But until its completion – not due before 2028 – Mr Burnham’s team are understood to be on the hunt for an interim office in the city.
Public Suggestions on Social Media
A post, shared on Reddit, asked users where they would vote for the location of the northern site, and the responses were nothing short of hilarious. "There’s been reports about the idea of No 10 North overseeing devolution of power and resources across the UK," it read. "Any ideas of other locations?"
Posts on X also suggested Roy's Rolls from Coronation Street and the iconic Stockport Pyramid, home to the Royal Nawaab. Other responses suggested the Oxford Road McDonald's, the Sacha's Britannia Hotel and the much-loved Affleck's.
Humorous Reactions
"If its not in Sacha's hotel i will riot," one user wrote. Another commented: "I suggest Satan's," wrote another. "The Britannia Hotel!" said another, which had a response quipping: "He'll only need a room by the hour judging by the rate we get through PMs these days."
"Afflecks," said another, as another, responding to a suggestion of curry house This & That said: "Don’t let the southerners take This & That away from us."
"Feels like there’s a better option, good availability, strong local community, may need a bit of Johnson’s £3k a roll wallpaper to spruce it up," someone wrote on X suggesting the Sacha's hotel. Another shared an image of Platform 14 at Manchester Piccadilly.
"We all know where number 10 of the North should be.." one X user posted, along with a picture of the Royal Nawaab in Stockport. And, sharing an image of Corrie's Roy Cropper in front of Roy's Rolls, a person commented: "A northern No 10 already exists in Manchester."
Burnham's Promise
It comes after Mr Burnham made a promise in his first major speech since current Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced he would be leaving Downing Street. The Makerfield MP said: “The days of Whitehall fighting the devolution of power into the regions and nations are over, for good.”
Adding that people in Dundee and Bangor 'feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster', he said his new 'Number 10 north will be the nerve centre of a rewired Britain' and would be 'the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK'.
