{"id":1125885,"date":"2026-08-02T11:52:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T11:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1125885\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T11:52:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T11:52:25","slug":"if-i-was-the-incoming-mayor-id-be-very-annoyed-with-andy-burnham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1125885\/","title":{"rendered":"‘If I was the incoming mayor I’d be very annoyed with Andy Burnham’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andy Burnham is on a hiring spree – and it doesn\u2019t just extend to his new secretaries of state and junior ministers. The new Prime Minister has been scooping up some of the people he has worked with during his time as Greater Manchester mayor to staff his pet project, Number 10 North.<\/p>\n

Existing lieutenants like former Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) leader Caroline Simpson have already made their way to Heron House to start work. And in Simpson\u2019s case, no notice period was worked.<\/p>\n

John Wrathmell, a policy strategist for the CA is joining No 10 North as a civil servant, while reports claim that former Deputy Leader of St Helens Council, Kate Groucutt is joining as a special advisor. Tom Whitney, Burnham\u2019s policy adviser during much of his time as mayor, also joins as a policy advisor moving between the Manchester and London Number 10s.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s understood the GMCA\u2019s director of Communications and Engagement Claire Norman has also moved across. While devolution thinktanker and former GMCA and the Treasury staffer JP Spencer is understood to also be working as a Number 10 North SpAd.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

An aerial view of Heron House, in Albert Square, behind the statue of philanthropist Oliver Heywood, which will be the interim base of the British government’s ‘Number 10 of the North'(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just Mancs in the mix. New Zealander Haydn Monroe – a former campaign director for Jacinda Ardern – has been appointed as a policy advisor. But the secondments and hires have put some noses out of joint at the GMCA.<\/p>\n

One source told the M.E.N: “A lot of people are jumping ship. The difference is Caroline Simpson just quit whereas the rest are officially on ‘secondment’ to No 10 North to help it get off the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough in reality that’s just a formality and I imagine in six months time they’ll be offered full-time positions. It doesn’t leave the GMCA in a great place. If I was the incoming mayor I’d be very annoyed with Andy.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Andy Burnham waves as he leaves No 10 North at Heron House after his first meetings at the new base(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Number 10 North has been described as the newest top tier of an existing \u201cfood chain\u201d which previously saw the combined authority regularly \u201cpinching\u201d the best officers from local authorities. It\u2019s anticipated there will be lots of reshuffling across the region as the new outpost beds in.<\/p>\n

“It’s disconcerting for a lot of people because there’s a lot of senior people going,\u201d the source said. \u201cThere are people who know they have jobs, who are very smug. There are people who want the jobs and are hawking their wares as it were.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there are people who weren’t that close to Andy and know they won’t get a job, and are being left in a hollowed out institution. There’s a fear that No 10 North becomes a shadow Combined Authority because it’s got the purse strings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stuff Burnham wants to do like tackling rough sleeping, building council housing, those are things the CA are already working on. They’ll be stepping on a lot of toes, and there’s a danger they’ll be looming over the CA from just around the corner.”<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

An aerial view of Heron House, in Albert Square(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not yet known how many people will be based at No 10 North, which is temporarily based at Heron House in Manchester city centre<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are currently a number of jobs being advertised on the Government\u2019s website located in \u2018Manchester and London\u2019. These include several social and video positions that form part of the new Government Media Unit, which aims to \u201creach, connect and rebuild trust with UK citizens in the most effective way possible\u201d. One of these positions is offering a salary of up to \u00a368,558.<\/p>\n

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said it\u2019s not a new idea to move civil servants out of the capital. But the benefits to Greater Manchester and the wider North will be huge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis changes everything. Whether people have come from GMCA or other places I think it\u2019s really healthy these people are coming into government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a large number of talented people who have chosen to work in public service and without moving to London have never been able to move up. There has been a glass ceiling.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

An aerial view of Heron House, centre, in Albert Square(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Responding to concerns that the GMCA is losing good staff to Number 10 North, Mr Murison said: \u201cIf this is a problem, it\u2019s a problem you want to have that will give you the best people. It\u2019s brilliant for the whole ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another source said a run on GMCA senior staff is not something to be concerned about as the new mayor will likely want to \u201cplough their own furrow\u201d and reshape the organisation – which is still in its infancy. They suggested that central government \u201chas been taking people from Greater Manchester for years\u201d and the civil service now has the opportunity to promote people here with different lived experiences.<\/p>\n

One former GMCA staffer said simply: \u201cAndy is hiring very well\u201d and suggested that those selected to join Number 10 North are among the most competent workers in the region. \u201cThey are good people that he knows and trusts,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the first time a government department has been set up near a Prime Minister\u2019s constituency. Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak moved hundreds of civil servants out of London to the Darlington Economic Campus, not far from his Richmond and Northallerton constituency, establishing a northern base for the Treasury.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Andy Burnham holds a National Economic Council meeting at No 10 North at Heron House(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Several people have compared Number 10 North with the BBC<\/a>\u2019s move to MediaCity two decades ago. That project was the \u201cearly blueprint\u201d for anyone looking to move power to the north.<\/p>\n

\u201cJames Purnell strikes again,\u201d said one thinktanker, referring to the new chief of staff\u2019s former role as BBC director of strategy who oversaw the move to Salford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook at MediaCity now. Even the Today programme has a studio here,\u201d they said. \u201cMy view is this is equivalent in scale and impact to the BBC move. And that was James Purnell too.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as the government has been talking about senior leaders being in Greater Manchester, the BBC found having senior people in Salford really important for it to work. The BBC has been on exactly the same journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

The added that taking over a floor of Heron House is \u201cthe natural conclusion of having moved the civil service out of Whitehall – to move ministers up here.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Police officers guard Heron House, in Albert Square, which will be the interim base of the British government’s ‘Number 10 of the North’ (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

One former GMCA staffer put it another way. \u201cIt\u2019s power in a different postcode.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked if there was a timetable for the recruitment of a new chief executive for Greater Manchester Combined Authority, a spokesperson said arrangements are in place to ensure \u201ccontinued smooth running\u201d of the authority.<\/p>\n

A GMCA spokesperson said: \u201cCaroline Simpson has resigned from her role as Group Chief Executive and left Greater Manchester Combined Authority. She had already stepped back from her role as Combined Authority Returning Officer and formally handed over all election responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeputy Group Chief Executive Andrew Lightfoot, the Managing Director of GMCA, has taken on interim leadership. This includes Combined Authority Returning Officer duties for the Mayoral by-election.<\/p>\n

\u201cArrangements are in place to ensure the continued smooth running of GMCA, as well as Transport for Greater Manchester and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service under their current leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andy Burnham is on a hiring spree – and it doesn\u2019t just extend to his new secretaries of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1125886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8813],"tags":[8916,748,393,4884,11564,2465,306412,25785,16,15,185318],"class_list":["post-1125885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manchester","tag-andy-burnham","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-greater-manchester-combined-authority","tag-manchester","tag-number-10-north","tag-the-mancunian-way","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unmissable"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117025778738974760","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1125885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1125886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1125885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1125885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1125885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}