He added:<\/p>\n
double quotation markNo 10 North will be responsible for accelerating devolution<\/a>. It will drive reindustrialisation and growth across every postcode of the UK. It will remove barriers to regeneration, from council housebuilding to public transport infrastructure. Crucially, No 10 North will bring the whole of Whitehall together behind places rather than standing in their way. Our long-term ambition is clear: to achieve equivalent living standards across all the regions and nations of the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n Based in Heron House in central Manchester<\/a>, in the same building which houses GCHQ in the north-west, Burnham is expected to work from No 10 North once a week, bringing him closer to his Makerfield constituents and to the community where he grew up. Other ministers including Angela Rayner and Lucy Powell, who hail from the north-west, will also regularly use the office, the government said.<\/p>\n Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused the prime minister of governing \u201clike he\u2019s still \u200bthe mayor of \u2060Manchester\u201d, saying he needed to focus on broader national challenges.<\/p>\n Read the full report here:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.21 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Heavy police presence this morning outside Heron House in central Manchester<\/a>, where the prime minister will hold his first meeting at No 10 North:<\/p>\n A police officer outside No 10 North, located in Heron House, central Manchester, ahead of the arrival of new prime minister Andy Burnham. Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PAPolice officers outside No 10 North. Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PAPolice officers patrol the streets in central Manchester. Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PAShare<\/a> Consumer confidence in the UK jumped this month by its biggest margin for nearly three years as the prospect of Andy Burnham<\/a> becoming prime minister became almost certain.<\/p>\n The data company GfK said a \u201cBurnham bounce\u201d along with a strong run by the men\u2019s England football team<\/a> at the World Cup and sunny weather had lifted the mood of consumers in its long-running monthly survey.<\/p>\n Burnham\u2019s byelection victory on 18 June<\/a>, which put the former mayor of Greater Manchester in pole position to take over from Keir Starmer, was credited with helping to improve consumers\u2019 outlook for the economy over the next year by eight points.<\/p>\n Their view of the economy\u2019s performance over the previous year also improved by 10 points. The overall score in the GfK index increased by six points to -17 in July, the highest level since January and the biggest rise since November 2023.<\/p>\n Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said July had delivered \u201ca wave of optimism\u201d.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Prisoner early release review to be conducted over ‘coming days and weeks,’ says minister<\/p>\n A review of the early prisoner release scheme ordered by Andy Burnham<\/a> could be conducted \u201cin the coming days and weeks\u201d, a minister has said.<\/p>\n The prime minister hit pause on the scheme<\/a> that would allow thousands of prisoners in England and Wales to be released early from September after criticism from survivors and victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n Burnham ordered an urgent review into the scheme, saying he wanted to \u201cminimise risk to the public\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking to Sky News this morning, Sally Jameson, a junior housing minister and former prison officer, said: \u201cI think the justice ministers have said that the urgent review will be conducted in the coming days and weeks to make sure that we have a timely response to that, so that the prison system and the criminal justice system can react and cope accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Government on ‘borrowed time if we don’t get a move on,’ says Rayner The housing secretary, Angela Rayner, has said the new Andy Burnham<\/a> administration is on \u201cborrowed time\u201d to turn the country around.<\/p>\n Appearing on BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme, Rayner said the flurry of announcements made by the new prime minister \u2013 cap on bus fares, VAT cut on electricity bills and support for pubs and clubs \u2013 showed he understood the frustration over the cost of living.<\/p>\n Secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, Angela Rayner, arrives at 10 Downing Street on 21 July 2026. Photograph: Tolga Akmen\/EPA<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re on borrowed time if we don\u2019t get a move on and I think Andy acknowledged that,\u201d she said. \u201cAs prime minister he stood on the streets of Downing Street without notes and spoke directly to the public and said \u2018we get it, I get the frustration\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Turning to housing policy, Rayner said the Government\u2019s goal to build 1.5m homes in this parliament is \u201ca really difficult stretched target\u201d but insisted she is not dropping it.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cIt certainly got more challenging, and we\u2019ve seen things like construction costs go up etc, which has had a real negative impact on that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m not dropping it. I\u2019m just saying that it is a really difficult stretched target.\u201d<\/p>\n Earlier on BBC Breakfast, Rayner said she is not looking at bringing in rent controls.<\/p>\n She said changes made through renters\u2019 rights legislation brought in under Labour<\/a> so far \u201care already having a significant impact on the market\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said: \u201cWe won\u2019t be looking at rent controls if that\u2019s what you\u2019re getting at at the moment.<\/p>\n \u201cThat is not something that we\u2019re looking to do because we\u2019ve seen what\u2019s happened in areas like Scotland. It hasn\u2019t necessarily brought rents down.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Opinion: It\u2019s not just a No 10 in the north, it\u2019s an engine for growth throughout the whole UK On Monday, while the cameras were fixed on that famous black door in Downing Street, something important was happening 165 miles away. A small team of officials and advisers were walking into an office building in Manchester<\/a> to set about the remaking of the British state.<\/p>\n This was the beginning of No 10 North<\/a>: the first major act of this government and what I hope will be seen as its most defining.<\/p>\n Over the course of the past 40 years, Britain has taken a series of wrong turns. In the 1980s, political power was centralised, economic power was privatised and communities were deindustrialised. Many of the places most affected have not recovered since and are still in decline. They have been unable to turn things around because they simply do not have the necessary power to do so. This feeling of neglect has lain underneath the increasingly fractious politics that has bedevilled Britain in recent times.<\/p>\n Solving this problem is crucial for the cohesion of our country. It is something with which it has wrestled for a long time but never got right. We have seen gimmicks, such as levelling up<\/a>. We have seen the shifting of bits of the British state around the map to no great effect.<\/p>\n Why has none of it worked? It is partly because, even though Whitehall departments have set up outposts, decision-making power has remained in London. It is also because, in the very centre of government itself, Nos 10 and 11 have not been sufficiently aligned \u2013 particularly on growth.<\/p>\n This is what No 10 North is seeking to correct and, if we succeed, it could bring the much-needed sea change in the way Britain is run.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Burnham to hold first meeting in new No 10 North in Manchester<\/p>\n Andy Burnham will hold his first meeting in No 10 North in Manchester today, the new branch of Downing Street in the north-west that the prime minister has described as \u201cthe biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen\u201d.<\/p>\n He will chair the inaugural meeting of the national economic council [NEC], a cabinet committee first launched in 2008 by Gordon Brown in response to the financial crash. It will bring together senior ministers and regional mayors to shift economic decision-making away \u200cfrom London.<\/p>\n Writing for the Guardian,<\/a> Burnham said: \u201cIt is about taking power down and placing it in the hands of people who can use it best.\u201d<\/p>\n He added:<\/p>\n double quotation markNo 10 North will be responsible for accelerating devolution<\/a>. It will drive reindustrialisation and growth across every postcode of the UK. It will remove barriers to regeneration, from council housebuilding to public transport infrastructure. Crucially, No 10 North will bring the whole of Whitehall together behind places rather than standing in their way. Our long-term ambition is clear: to achieve equivalent living standards across all the regions and nations of the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n Burnham is expected to work from No 10 North once a week, bringing him closer to his Makerfield constituents. Photograph: Ryan Jenkinson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Burnham](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2121.jpg\")
Burnham is expected to work from No 10 North once a week, bringing him closer to his Makerfield constituents. Photograph: Ryan Jenkinson\/Getty Images<\/p>\n![\"Phillip](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Philip_Inman.png\")
Phillip Inman<\/p>\n![\"Jamie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Jamie-Grierson,-L.png\")
Jamie Grierson<\/p>\n![\"Andy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Andy_Burnham.png\")
Andy Burnham<\/p>\n