No 10 North to open in Manchester as ministers shift from London

No 10 North opened in Heron House in Manchester city centre, giving ministers a northern base while a brownfield site is redeveloped for a permanent home. Senior ministers and aides close to Andy Burnham were expected to work there regularly, and Education Secretary Lucy Powell and Louise Haigh were both planning to use the office.

Louise Haigh was overseeing No 10 North in her role as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, tying the Manchester branch into central government rather than treating it as a symbolic outpost. The project sat within Keir Starmer's aim to shift power from Whitehall and Westminster to regions across the UK, with government operations moving away from London as well as being announced there.

Burnham has cast the project in blunt economic terms, saying No 10 North will be the "dominant driver of the UK's economy." He had already used the No 10 North label in Manchester politics, but this version comes with named ministers, a temporary base and a redevelopment plan, making it more concrete than the kind of levelling up promise that often stopped at rhetoric.

The test now is whether authority follows the address. 10 Downing Street remains the Prime Minister's official residence and executive office, while 11, 12 and 14 Downing Street are also used for government functions, so the street has long housed more than one arm of the state. If No 10 North becomes a regular working base for ministers and aides, Manchester will have more than a slogan on the door. It will have a working piece of central government.