UK establishes No 10 North in Manchester to drive regional growth

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has opened a branch of his office in Manchester, marking the first major structural act of the new UK government. A team of officials entered the office building 165 miles from Downing Street on Monday to establish No 10 North.

The move is a direct attempt to reverse 40 years of centralized political and economic decision-making in London. By relocating core executive functions, the government aims to address the long-term economic decline of deindustrialised communities that has fueled recent political instability.

Previous attempts to close the economic gap, such as the "levelling up" agenda, failed because they shifted civil service outposts without relinquishing actual decision-making power. No 10 North is designed to ensure that the prime minister's office and the Treasury are fully aligned on driving growth.

On Tuesday, Burnham will chair the first meeting of the National Economic Council from the new Manchester base. The forum brings together senior ministers and regional mayors to force Whitehall departments to align their strategies with regional growth ambitions.

For businesses and investors, the initiative signals a potential shift in how major infrastructure and regeneration projects are approved. The government intends to remove barriers to council housebuilding and public transport investments across the country.

Burnham is drawing on his record as a regional leader, noting that Greater Manchester delivered twice the economic growth of anywhere else in the UK over the past decade. "Growth cannot be imposed from the top down, but instead has to be nurtured from the bottom up," he said.

Alongside this long-term structural reform, the government has moved quickly to deliver immediate fiscal relief. In its first five days, it cut VAT on household electricity bills for the winter and reduced business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues.

Later this year, the administration plans to publish a 10-year strategy detailing how it will reindustrialise the UK, build more council homes and bring essential services back under public control. The overarching goal is to achieve equivalent living standards across all regions and nations.