Ambition has a funny way of refreshing a politician's memory. Over the last few days, Westminster has witnessed a collective political awakening. Dozens of high-flying Labour MPs and government ministers have suddenly discovered a profound, burning interest in the intricacies of regional devolution.
It's a striking shift. For years, the standard career track for an ambitious Labour politician was simple. You win a seat, you climb the ministerial ladder in London, and you treat local government as a distant cousin you visit only during election campaigns.
Then Keir Starmer resigned.
Now, Andy Burnham—fresh from his Makerfield by-election victory and standing as the unopposed front-runner to become prime minister in a matter of weeks—is rewriting the rules of power. In his landmark Manchester speech, Burnham promised a "circuit-breaker" for Britain's highly centralised state, pledging to move parts of the Number 10 operation to Manchester to form a new "No 10 North."
Suddenly, Whitehall dominance is out. Regional empowerment is in. If you want a job in the upcoming Burnham cabinet, you better start loving devolution. Fast.
The Zeal of the New Converts
The rush to ingratiate oneself with the incoming boss has led to some genuinely comical scenes across the parliamentary party. Word around Westminster is that ministers are practically digging out their old undergraduate essays on the structural powers of the Senedd just to prove they have always cared about local decision-making.
Look at the sudden shift in rhetoric from the top of the party. Darren Jones, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, recently gave a speech echoing Burnham's language almost verbatim, noting how the over-centralisation of bureaucracy in Westminster stifles growth. Health Secretary James Murray quickly pivoted to argue that national healthcare strategy must focus heavily on local delivery and regional devolution.
Even Steve Reed, the Communities Secretary whose position looks incredibly precarious in a Burnham shake-up, tried to get ahead of the curve. He told the Financial Times that he has been arguing for deeper devolution for 15 years, explicitly backing Burnham's plan to give local authorities control over income tax and business rates.
Then there is Angela Rayner. Having drifted somewhat to the outer edges of Burnham’s circle, the former Deputy Prime Minister used a major speech to pitch directly for a job overseeing the devolution brief. She argued that her own work on the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act 2026 laid the exact groundwork Burnham needs to execute his vision.
It is a masterclass in political survival. Some backbenchers are less than impressed by the sudden shift in tone. One MP dryly observed that this entire episode is proof positive that shame is absolutely not a requirement for holding high office in British politics.
What Most People Get Wrong About Burnham's Plan
The cynical view is that this is just standard political theater. Members of parliament change their views to match the leader's ideology all the time. But the scramble for jobs highlights a much deeper, structural shift that a lot of commentators are completely missing.
This isn't just about politicians wanting to keep their ministerial cars. It is about a fundamental clash between the traditional Whitehall model and Burnham’s philosophy of "Manchesterism"—a blend of business-friendly socialism and heavy public control over transport, housing, and utilities.
When Burnham sets up No 10 North in Manchester, he isn't creating a symbolic regional office. He has already appointed Caroline Simpson, the chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, to be his deputy chief of staff to run it. Simpson has spent her entire career in local government, entirely bypassing the civil service pipeline in London. She will sit at the nerve center of a rewired British state, working alongside cabinet ministers to coordinate national economic renewal from the North.
For a traditional Treasury civil servant or a Whitehall-bound minister, this is terrifying. It represents an unprecedented loss of central power.
If Burnham follows through on the proposals generated by his policy advisers at the ThinkLabour think tank, the changes will be radical. A recent policy paper by JP Spencer suggests giving metro mayors direct control over complex public services like social care, childcare, and sixth-form colleges. Under this model, mayors would even appoint local health and education commissioners, effectively breaking the command-and-control monopoly that London has held for decades.
The Friction Ahead
It won't be smooth sailing. While Labour MPs are busy praising the plan to secure cabinet positions, regional anxieties are already building beneath the surface.
- The London Backlash: Capital-based MPs are getting nervous. Several London Labour representatives have quietly warned that the city's streets aren't paved with gold and that pockets of deep poverty in the south cannot be ignored in a rush to fund the north.
- The Midlands Dilemma: Representatives from Birmingham and the Black Country are already reminding the leadership that the UK's regional inequality isn't a simple north-south binary—the Midlands exists too.
- The Market Skeptics: On the right, Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives are framing Burnham's northern focus as a divisive gimmick that will alienate southern voters and damage wealth creation.
More importantly, true devolution requires fiscal freedom. If a region can't set its own tax rates or retain the direct financial rewards of its local economic growth, devolution is just an administrative exercise in spending Whitehall’s pocket money. Burnham wants to hand over powers on business rates and potentially income tax. The next Chancellor will have to willingly sign away an immense amount of Treasury authority on day one.
The Immediate Next Steps for Labour Insiders
The frantic lobbying will continue right up until the official handover of power in mid-July. For those looking to decipher who is actually winning the battle for Burnham's favor, keep a close eye on these specific indicators over the next two weeks.
- The Chancellor Appointment: This is the ultimate tell. Whoever lands the Treasury job will either be a strict defender of orthodox fiscal rules or a willing accomplice in dismantling Whitehall’s financial monopoly.
- The Fate of Starmer Loyalists: Watch whether figures like Steve Reed are retained or replaced by figures who have long-standing ties to regional government rather than Westminster think tanks.
- The Structuring of No 10 North: Pay attention to how many senior civil servants are actually reassigned from London to Manchester to work under Caroline Simpson. If the headcount is small, the Whitehall machine is successfully resisting. If it's large, the rebalancing is real.
The sudden passion for regional power across the parliamentary Labour party might look hypocritical, and honestly, a lot of it is. But it also shows that the center of gravity in British politics has fundamentally moved. The road to power no longer runs exclusively through SW1. Right now, it runs straight through Manchester.
