Prime Minister Andy Burnham has formally opened No 10 North in Manchester, creating a permanent northern base for the centre of government and promising to move economic decision-making beyond Westminster.

The office is based at Heron House in Manchester city centre, a building that has housed GCHQ teams since 2019. Burnham described the new operation as a situation room for growth and said it would bring ministers, regional mayors and Whitehall departments together to break through delays in national and local projects.

The opening is one of the most visible acts of Burnham’s first week as prime minister. His government has presented the Manchester base as evidence that power will no longer be concentrated almost entirely in London.

The administration has also revived the National Economic Council, which is expected to meet in Manchester and coordinate decisions involving infrastructure, housing, investment and regional development.

Symbolism and substance

Burnham has long argued that the United Kingdom is over-centralised and that regions lack the authority needed to shape transport, skills, housing and economic policy. The new office gives that argument a prominent institutional home.

Critics, however, have questioned the cost of creating a second prime-ministerial base and whether the move will produce genuine devolution or mainly political symbolism. The answer will depend on which decisions are made in Manchester and whether funding and legal authority follow the rhetoric.

Heron House already contains intelligence, cyber and science teams. GCHQ said the location would allow the new No 10 operation to work alongside technical expertise and the city’s growing innovation sector.

A wider first-week agenda

The government linked the opening to a series of early economic measures, including the restoration of a £2 cap on bus fares, the removal of VAT from electricity bills and a reduction in business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues.

Those policies are intended to signal urgency on the cost of living while the administration develops a broader programme for growth and housing. Burnham has also promised a more formal role for mayors in national decision-making.

For Manchester, the arrival of No 10 North is an important political symbol. The city has become a centre of devolution in England, but regional leaders have frequently complained that major decisions and funding approvals remain controlled by Whitehall.

For the rest of the country, the test is more demanding. A northern government office will matter only if it changes how priorities are set, how quickly projects move and how much influence communities outside London have over national policy.

Burnham has called the office a nerve centre for a rewired Britain. Its success will be judged not by the address on government correspondence, but by whether power, money and accountability actually move with it.