Andy Burnham has put labour mayors income tax devolution at the centre of his pitch as the incoming Labour leader and prime minister, pairing it with a Manchester-based “No 10 North”. He has spoken openly about wanting to change the culture of politics and to move power away from Westminster.
Labour was elected in 2024 on a mandate of “change” and a promise of restoring trust in politics, but the article says the UK is now set to see its seventh prime minister in a matter of just 10 years. Burnham’s plan is presented as the clearest sign yet that he wants devolution to be more than a slogan.
Manchester and No 10 North
Burnham has pledged to establish “No 10 North” in Manchester. In practical terms, that points to a northern government base designed to concentrate decision-making outside Westminster, rather than a symbolic office with no operating role.
He has also made decentralisation of power from Westminster a key part of his approach, and he has long backed devolution. The proposed structure would put Labour mayors closer to fiscal decisions if income tax powers are handed down, giving local leaders more room to shape how money is raised and spent in their areas.
Wales is not a region
The complication comes from Wales. The article says Wales is not a region but a nation in and of itself, which means any devolution plan built around English regions risks drawing a boundary that does not fit Wales’s constitutional status.
Burnham’s revised piece acknowledged Wales’s democratic mandate and pledged to respect the Senedd and Welsh devolution. That leaves a direct test for his broader pitch: whether “regions” means a wider settlement that includes Wales on its own terms, or an English model built around Manchester and the North.
Labour and Westminster
The article frames the issue as part of early pressure on Labour under Keir Starmer, including the failure to respond decisively to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the appointment of Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to the US. Against that backdrop, Burnham is being cast as the figure offering a different style of government.
For people in Wales, the immediate question is not the slogan but the structure. If Burnham’s plan advances, the fight will be over what powers move from Westminster, what stays with the Senedd, and whether a Manchester-centred model can answer Wales’s separate democratic claim.
