Burnham’s devolution revolution

Summary

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The Story — "Burnham’s Devolution Revolution"

Podcast: The Story (by The Times)
Episode Date: July 29, 2026
Host: Manveen Rana
Reported by: Daryl Morris, Manchester Political Reporter

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Episode Overview

This episode explores a seismic shift in British political power as Andy Burnham, the newly appointed Prime Minister, establishes a “Number 10 North” in Manchester. The discussion delves into the implications of this move for devolution across the UK, assessing whether the north-south divide in British politics could finally be rebalancing. The episode also spotlights the largest by-election in British history—the selection of Burnham’s successor as Greater Manchester Mayor—and uses it as a litmus test for the public’s appetite for Burnham’s devolution revolution.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Number 10 North: Decentralizing Power

Timestamps: 01:45–11:29

• Heron House as the New Power Hub

  • The unremarkable red-brick Heron House in Manchester has become central to British politics, serving as the “Number 10 North” outpost.
  • “It was fascinating watching the power shift in real time to that building in the centre of Manchester, number 10 north.” (Manchester Political Reporter, 02:51)

• Symbolic and Practical Shift

  • Reflective blinds and increased security mark the new reality: Manchester is now at the heart of government decision-making, at least partially.
  • The physical move is mirrored by meaningful intent, as Burnham hosts the first “semi-cabinet” meeting there with mayors from around the UK.

• Burnham’s Vision

  • “I want this place to be a nerve center for a rewired Britain, a situation room for growth, putting power in every postcode so people can turn things around for themselves.” (Andy Burnham, 07:03)
  • Burnham embodies his local roots, famously shouting to supporters: “I love you, Manchester!” (Andy Burnham, 07:21)

• How Will It Work?

  • Number 10 North is understood as the Department for Devolution—a base for Burnham’s ambitious agenda to “push power into all corners of the country.”
  • New leadership includes senior allies and experienced civil servants such as Louise Haigh and Caroline Simpson.

• Staffing & Logistics

  • Projected to host several hundred staff within 18 months; currently in interim headquarters until a long-term site outside the city centre is ready.
  • “It’s a sort of interim Number 10 North until there is a new development completed... there may be a little sleight of hand here, as part of this was already in motion.” (Manchester Political Reporter, 09:04)
  • Burnham plans to work one day per week in Manchester due to personal links in Leigh.

• Challenges

  • West Coast Main Line disruption highlights real issues with making Manchester-London commutes productive—a relevant test for decentralisation.
  • Questions exist about costs, despite claims of using “existing Cabinet Office budgets.”

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2. The Devolution Agenda: Purpose and Potential

Timestamps: 11:29–16:49

• Big Pitch of Devolution

  • “Moving power out of Whitehall—decisions made closer to the people they affect by people directly elected by them.” (Manchester Political Reporter, 11:40)

• Business Perspective (Tim Heatley, Developer and Burnham Ally)

  • “Local authorities...haven’t had the benefit of influence and control over the money. They’ve had to bid to Whitehall in mini funding pots. They’ve not been able to take a 10-year view.” (Tim Heatley, 12:38)
  • Manchester’s collaborative public-private ethos (“Manchesterism”) seen as a model.

• Variations Across the Country

  • Devolved power currently uneven—Manchester and the West Midlands have greater autonomy than parts of Yorkshire, the North East, or southern England.

• Pitfalls & Potential

  • Devolving powers too rapidly could overwhelm localities.
  • “You suddenly give them powers they’re not really prepared for, could end badly.” (Daryl Morris, 15:32)

• Immediate Developments

  • The first tangible change: increased control for mayors over their own spending (not tax-raising) related to social housing, welfare, and education.

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3. The Manchester Mayoral By-Election: Litmus Test for Devolution

Timestamps: 18:58–28:19

• What’s at Stake?

  • The largest by-election in UK history: 10 boroughs, two cities, two million voters.
  • “Every story, every trend of British politics, every age, every demographic, all coming together in a massive litmus test.” (Manchester Political Reporter, 19:20)

• Political Dynamics

  • Labour’s candidate, Bev Craig, is the anticipated front-runner but faces challenges from the Greens, Reform UK, the Conservatives, Lib Dems, an Independent, and Restore Britain.
  • “Polling...puts Labour on 39%, Reform on 19%, Green on 14%, Conservatives on 12%, Lib Dems 8%, Restore on 8%.” (Manchester Political Reporter, 20:59)

• Public Sentiment and Skepticism

  • Some local identity tensions: “I don’t consider myself as part of Greater Manchester, I consider myself as Lancashire. So you feel like somebody making a decision in Manchester might as well be making the decision in London?” — “Yeah, definitely.” (Local Resident, 22:07)
  • Some voters view devolution as a stunt or insufficiently radical, particularly among Greens.

• The Reform UK Surge

  • Reform UK is gaining among disaffected Labour voters, especially in white working-class areas.
  • “Older generation, older opinions, what Labour used to do for the working class. And I don’t think that that’s what it is now.” (Local Resident, 25:42)

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4. Will Devolution Work and Change Britain?

Timestamps: 28:19–29:51

• North-South Rebalancing?
  • “Is this the moment that we actually see the north-south divide rebalancing a bit?” (Daryl Morris, 28:19)
  • There’s a tangible sense of change, but uncertainty remains over what powers will be devolved, to whom, and with what effect.
  • “Will decisions made closer to the ground mean better decisions? All remain to be seen. They are all up in the air.” (Manchester Political Reporter, 29:33)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Andy Burnham’s Enthusiasm:

  • “I think this might be the best day of my life. I’m not joking either. I know you think I am, but I’m not.” (06:44)
  • “Thank you so much. I love you, Manchester.” (07:21)

• On Power and Accountability in Devolution:

  • “If they don’t perform and if they don’t deliver, then they’ll get voted out and they should be.” (Tim Heatley, 13:38)

• Local Sentiment on Manchester’s New Role:

  • “A decision that is being made in Manchester could as well be being made in London for some of these people.” (Manchester Political Reporter, paraphrasing a local, 22:07)

• Kim Jong-un Analogy:

  • “Patrick Maguire at the Times described [Burnham] as the sort of Kim Jong-un of Greater Manchester politics, and he absolutely is.” (Manchester Political Reporter, 26:39)

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Candidate List

(For Manchester Mayoral By-Election):

• Sian Astley (Reform UK)
• Geraldine Coggins (Green Party)
• Bev Craig (Labour Party)
• Phil Eckersley (Conservative Party)
• Marcus Farmer (Independent)
• Richard Kilpatrick (Liberal Democrats)
• Marlon West (Restore Britain)
  (27:54)

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Conclusion

Manchester’s moment in the political spotlight—hosting the Prime Minister’s “Number 10 North” and staging a landmark by-election—is more than a symbolic shift. It’s the crucible for radical devolution, intended to bring decision-making closer to home and reduce the central grip of Whitehall. As the city serves as litmus test for Andy Burnham’s “devolution revolution,” much depends on how powers are distributed, who holds them, and whether citizens feel truly served by their new local leaders. For now, “it remains to be seen”—but the sense of change in the air is undeniable.

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Transcript

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[Daryl Morris]

From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Manveen Rana.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So it's a fairly standard run of the mill red brick building like any other office building built in 1979 right in the centre of Manchester on Albert Square, just opposite the Town Hall.

[Daryl Morris]

Daryl Morris is a Times radio presenter who lives in Manchester and lately he's been making sense of how the city is fast becoming the front line in British politics. And one building in particular, it's called

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Heron House and it was already a government building. Actually it houses part of gchq, the intelligence service. I was there on Monday last week when Andy Burnham became Prime Minister and I arrived quite early in the morning and it was a run of the mill scene. And as the morning wore on, a few interesting things started to happen. There were some workmen that arrived and they started to put up some reflective sheets on the glass on this building. And then as the morning became the afternoon and Andy Burnham arrived on Downing street, some police officers arrived outside this building. One and then two and then three. And it was fascinating watching the power shift in real time to that building in the centre of Manchester, number 10 north.

[Daryl Morris]

So as the reflective blinds go down and the security goes up, will this new number 10 outpost fundamentally restructure the. The geography of British power? And that's not the only transfer of power going on in the city this week. The Manchester mayoral election is tomorrow the biggest ever by election in British history.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Frandi Bennett is a test of two things. This is obviously the first election since he became leader of the Labour Party, but also, I think it would give us a bit of a sense of what his devolution plan might look like, because one of the big questions is, if Andy Burnham wants to devolve power to local authorities and mayors across the country, who is he devolving that power to?

[Daryl Morris]

The story today, how Manchester became the focal point of British politics. Daryl, you are basically our man in the North. We often speak to you from Manchester and right now you seem to be at the epicentre of all political power.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Yes, I seem to have accidentally found myself right at the centre of the universe. Yes. I was always determined to not have to move to London to build a national media career. And I knew that if I held on long enough, Westminster and power would come to me.

[Daryl Morris]

And it's certainly done that. Just tell us, I mean, in the course of just a few weeks, you have so many big, big political events happening on your doorstep.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Yeah, absolutely. And I guess, look, we can, we can probably trace this back to the Gorton and Denton by election, can't we, earlier this year, where Andy Burnham was denied the chance to run to get a seat to return to Westminster, then he eventually found a way through Makerfield. And a product of that, I suppose, has been this almighty shift of power. And in around that, we are also experiencing the biggest by election in political history, because Andy Burnham, departing his role as the mayor of Greater Manchester to head to Westminster, to head to number 10, has left this vacancy for his old job. And so we have a huge by election, 10 metropolitan boroughs, two cities, 2 million voters, this enormous litmus test of British politics happening as well.

[Daryl Morris]

Manchester is going to be making headlines for the foreseeable. We'll come on to that big by election, as you say, the biggest in British history, which seems so remarkable. Before we do, though, number 10 north. Tell us about that. How soon does all of that kick off?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So it's already underway. Number 10 north is a functioning outpost of Number 10 Downing street as we speak. Last Friday, Andy Burnham did his first day of work from Heron House in the centre of Manchester, and he swept into this new seat of power and there was a semi cabinet meeting, if you will.

[Andy Burnham]

Hi, everyone. Thanks, everybody.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

All of the mayors from across the country, including Sadiq Khan, were there as well. Andy Burnham was clearly thrilled to be there.

[Andy Burnham]

Oh, thank you, everybody. I cannot tell you what a proud moment this is. I think this might be the best day of my life. I'm not joking either. I know you think I am, but I'm not.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

He says that he. He wants it to be a nerve center for a rewired Britain and a situation room for growth, putting power in

[Andy Burnham]

every postcode so that people can turn things around for themselves and make changes, just as this great city has done and the other English cities are doing through devolution.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

There was also this moment that really stood out. In the afternoon, he popped outside to go and see some of the crowds who were sort of cheering him on, and he shouted, I love you, Manchester. And the crowd sort of cheered back. Thank you, everybody. Thank you so much. I love you, Manchester. And it was a really striking moment because I can't remember the last time we had a moment like that in British politics.

[Daryl Morris]

He really is in his element here. Do we know how this model is going to work? I mean, what will it mean having a number 10 north who will work from there? How often will they be there? What will they be working on?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So I think it's best to understand number 10 north as the Department for Devolution. Burnham wants to be a conduit to the rest of the country. He wants his devolution agenda, which is going to be a central plank of his administration, to run through this new office and to push power into all corners of the country. So you've got some interesting characters. Lou Haig is going to be there. She was the Transport Minister, of course, before she had to resign under Keir Starmer.

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[Manchester Political Reporter]

She's back in government. She's a key ally of Andy Burnham. She should have orchestrated his return to Westminster. In many ways, she'll be overseeing number 10 north in her role as the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. You've also got some interesting characters that have been around Andy Burnham for a while already. Caroline Simpson, who was the chief Executive officer for Manchester's Combined Authority, so she worked side by side with Andy Burnham. She was sort of Andy Burnham's chief civil servant, if you will, during his time as mayor of Greater Manchester.

[Daryl Morris]

Do we have any sense of the scale of number 10 north? I mean, how much staff do you expect to be there the whole time?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So I think we're expecting there to be a sort of good couple of hundred staff there in the next 18 months. Where they're based at the moment is going to is a sort of interim number 10 north until there is a new development completed, nestled outside the city centre. And there's maybe a little bit of sleight of hand going on here as well, because some of this was already in motion. This building, this new complex outside Manchester was already being built. There were already several thousand civil servants setting up base in Manchester. It was part of a already in motion devolution plan to move civil service jobs out of London. We have outposts of other departments around the country already. Rishi Sunak, you may remember, moved the treasury campus to Darlington, for example. And I guess Andy Burnham has sort of given that a fresh impetus and a lick of paint and a big sign saying number 10 north.

[Daryl Morris]

Well, also a real credibility. If the Prime Minister is now going to be spending time there regularly, how often do we think he'll be there?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Well, he says he's going to spend a day, a week there and obviously that is logistically possible because he's got a house in Leigh just outside Makerfield where his constituency is. Downing street said that there would be no additional cost to taxpayers, that it it will be funded through existing cabinet office budgets, etc. It does seem impossible to imagine that there won't be some cost. Civil servants were told in an all staff call with the Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office, Cat Little, that relocation packages would be available for those willing to relocate. And there are logistical questions. How does he get up and down? And actually, you know, trains have already been an issue. There's been disruption on the West Coast Main Line this week and on the day that Number 10 north opened, Sadiq Khan, Sir Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, and a couple of others were delayed getting to Andy Burnham's opening. And this is a journey that I make at least twice a week and it can be really miserable, cancellations, delays. Getting Wi fi to work on the train is notoriously painful. It is sometimes the most unproductive time of my week, those couple of hours on the train. So, you know, if we're looking for productivity and growth, doing it on the west coast mainline remains very difficult.

[Daryl Morris]

What's the big idea behind it, though? I mean, this is all about devolution. What's the big pitch there?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So the big pitch is basically moving power out of Whitehall, decisions being made closer to the people that they affect by people who are elected directly by them. Right. To best understand this, I spoke to Tim Heatley, who is a strong ally of Andy Burnham. He was on Downing street to clap Andy Burnham in as Prime Minister last week.

[Daryl Morris]

One of the inner circle, really?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Yeah, very much one of the inner circle. He is part of this kind of Manchester set of powerful figures that Andy Burnham has sort of built around him. And he is a property developer, a very successful property developer, but somebody that does a lot of work with local authorities. He has to get planning permissions and collaborate with them on a regular basis. So I asked him, how would this devolution of power across the country work in real terms for him? Let's use him as an example. And he said that very often when he started a new project. Local authorities, he said, are used to fighting and arguing with developers.

[Tim Heatley]

I'm always surprised at how much they're used to kind of fighting and arguing with development investment organizations. And that's because they haven't had the benefit of having the influence and the control over the money. They've had to bid to Whitehall in mini funding pots. They've not been able to take a 10 year view. They've had to make short term decisions. They've not had influence over the real influence over the planning that they need.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So he says the public sector and the private sector need to work together. It's not always feasible for one or the other to complete a project, a development project, sort of on their own. So they need to work together. That, by the way, is Manchesterism in a nutshell. That's what has sort of driven Manchester's success, that kind of collaborative approach over the last couple of decades. And he says that with devolved power, with more local control, all of that will become easier. He also adds an interesting caveat, that it will depend on the quality and the talent of the political leaders in city regions.

[Tim Heatley]

And one of the benefits of it is that if they don't perform and if they don't deliver, then they'll get voted out and they should be. And there is a broad spectrum of talent. I know this from working with across lots of different city regions across the country. What I've noticed for sure is that it's not like labor, all the good ones, or the Conservatives are all the bad ones, or reform Are all of the in between one. It varies.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So it's easier in theory to see and feel what somebody closer to you is doing and it is easier in theory for those people to make clearer, longer term decisions.

[Daryl Morris]

That's so interesting. This is a businessman, a property developer, clearly very influential with Andy Burnham, a close friend of his, who's basically arguing that it's the red tape. It's being able to do things faster by dealing with local authorities rather than waiting for a Westminster stamp, which makes sense. But it's interesting even he sees the potential pitfalls. We're not used to a system where, apart from places like Manchester and maybe Birmingham, where you've had these very big mayoralties, we're not used to a system where so much power has been devolved. How easy will that be to switch?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

I think it'll be easy in some places and I think it'll be harder in others. England at the moment is a sort of patchwork of devolved powers. So you have places like Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, for example, where they do have quite a lot of power. Then you head to sort of Yorkshire and Merseyside and they have. They have power, but a little bit less power. Same in the northeast as well. And then you get to some places in the south of England where actually the mayors there, or what are going to become mayors there, have really very few powers. There are definitely sort of challenges in getting the right power to the right places and doing it quickly enough that it starts to move things, but perhaps not too quickly that it overwhelms places that aren't necessarily ready for that kind of power.

[Daryl Morris]

Yeah, because obviously there will be parts of the country where the mayor is just a figure who turns up and opens the local fate. You suddenly give them powers that they're not really prepared for, could end badly. Do we know what sort of powers he wants mayors to have in the end?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So the first sort of solid announcements that we've had on that this week is about money to spend. So local authorities and local mayors are going to be given bigger slices of the budget. Not tax raising powers, crucially, but tax spending powers. And they'll be given a little bit of control and a bit more autonomy over things like social housing and welfare and education and how money on those issues is spent in their areas. And one of those mayors is going to be decided tomorrow in the biggest by election in British political history, which is happening right now in Greater Manchester, to find a replacement for Andy Burnham and also provide an early stress test of Andy Burnham's popularity and his plan.

[Daryl Morris]

Coming up. So as Britain faces that by election, the Manchester mayoral race, what will the result tell us about Burnham's wider plans for devolution? That's in just a moment.

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[Daryl Morris]

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[Daryl Morris]

Daryl, you've been telling us about why all Westminster politics now feels very northern. Apart from the move of number 10 to the north, you also have this enormous by election tomorrow. Just remind us though, why does it matter beyond Manchester, why should the rest of the country care?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So this is absolutely huge. It is the biggest by election in British political history. You've got 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester all voting, including Bolton, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Stockport, Wigan. You've got two cities, Salford and Manchester. Two million people voting and every story, every trend of British politics, every age, every demographic, all coming together in a massive litmus test of British politics.

[Daryl Morris]

Wow. I mean, it is huge. So soon into Andy Burnham's time in number 10. Obviously, Manchester is also his backyard. From what you've been hearing from people out and about, which way do you think the election will go and what are they saying to you? What are their biggest concerns?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

So for Andy Bennett is a test of two things. Because this is obviously the first election since he became leader of the Labour Party, it is his Labour Party now that are contesting this by election. But also I think it would give us a bit of a sense of what his devolution plan might look like, because one of the big concerns is, or questions is, if Andy Burnham wants to devolve power to local authorities and mayors across the country, who is he devolving that power to? 2, it may very well be the case, and in fact, it will be the case, won't it, in some places that he is devolving power decisions and budgets to people who disagree with him, to his political opponents. He'll be handing power to his political opponents.

[Daryl Morris]

And how is it looking? I mean, who are the front runners?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Well, we've got some fresh polling this week which basically suggests that it'll be a shoo in for Labour's Bev Craig. More in common have done a poll that puts Labour on 39%, Reform on 19%, Green on 14%, the Conservatives on 12%, Lib Dems 8 and then restore, interestingly, that we can come back to on 8%. So it is looking like Labour's Bev Craig is ahead by a reasonably substantial margin, which actually is in itself an interesting story because one of the sort of main reasons that the Labour Party, that Keir Starmer's Labour Party and the National Executive Committee initially blocked Andy Burnham and were very anxious, genuinely very anxious about Andy Burnham returning to Westminster was the possibility that they may lose this by election, right? That this, this what should be an extremely safe part of the world for Labour would be handed to the closest challenger, really, which is Reform. And I think in the time since then, it certainly feels like things have shifted.

[Daryl Morris]

I know you've been out and about talking to people in all of these different boroughs, but what are you hearing?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Regardless of who wins, there are still a whole host of fascinating stories playing out in this by election that tell us a lot about how people think and feel under sort of direction of British politics. And so to understand them, I returned to Makerfield and it was funny, I. When I arrived there, I stood on a street that I, Chapel street in Ashton and Makerfield that I had stood on a couple of days before the by election. And the reason that I remember it is because a lad Threw a lesser seen plastic straw to the ground. And I said to him, hey, don't litter. And he said, he swore at me basically as he, as he disappeared off into the distance. And then this last week, I stood over that same straw again. It is still there, sort of. Yeah, kind of crumpled into the ground a bit and a bit sort of dusted by traffic and charred by the hot weather, but it was still there. And it was a sort of striking reminder of how rapidly things have moved in British politics, how sort of so little has changed and yet so much has changed. And when I was there, I spoke to this one woman who said that Manchester feels quite distant to her. I don't consider myself as part of Greater Manchester, I consider myself as Lancashire. So you feel like somebody making a decision in Manchester might as well be making the decision in London? Yeah, yeah, definitely. I just love Lancashire. What about the argument though, that people make where they say, you know, decisions get made in Westminster, hundreds of miles away from here, and that the decisions that affect our lives should be made clear closer to home. That's what MPs are for, not mayors. And I do wonder if there's something in that, that a decision that is being made in Manchester could as well be being made in London for some of these people. I also went back to Gorton and Denton, which is the scene of another chaotic by election, wasn't it? That could have been Andy Burnham's path to Downing street, but wasn't the Green Party won there. That was a sort of story of this three way split in a previously safe Labour seat between Labour, the Greens and Reform. The Greens won out. And I spoke to a man who, who made that happen, a guy who said that he cried when Hannah Spencer was elected and he said that he thinks devolution is just a sort of stunt and that for him Labour will never be radical enough. You know, nobody up here wants down in the Downing street of the North. That's not proper devolution, that's a stunt. So it gives you a sense, some of those conversations with those kind of Green voters, that the uphill battle that Andy Burnham has and that Bev Craig may have and that Labour have in winning some of those people back who have previously fractured away from the Labour Party. And we should say that the Greens candidate is Geraldine Coggins. She is a veteran Green campaigner, a trafford councillor since 2018.

[Daryl Morris]

So obviously Labour have this challenge from the left when it comes to the Greens. There was also a lot of talk about the challenge on the right in the form of reform. How is that playing out? Because the polling was quite surprising.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Yeah, look, reform have been a fascinating story, haven't they, in this part of the world where they have been on the march through particularly white working class communities. Gorton and Denton being a prime example of that. They managed to force Labour into third place in Gorton and Denton, again, a place that should be absolutely a slam dunk for them. Back in February, Makerfield was a more interesting story, I think, because again, Makerfield, the place that reform were absolutely on the march and Andy Burnham managed to win with 54% of the vote. I spoke to one woman who reform voter, whose family had long supported Labour and she was a classic case of one of those people who has drifted away from Labour and into the hands of Reform.

[Local Resident]

I think everybody around here are for

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Labour and you're not.

[Local Resident]

No. Older generation, older opinions, what Labour used to do for the working class. And I don't think that that's what it is now.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Sean Astley, who is the mayoral candidate for Reform, will be looking to win back some of those people. One of those people who voted for reform in the local elections earlier this year and then voted for Andy Burnham in the by election a couple of weeks ago. Going to do next. Andy Burnham says, look, Labour's going to change. We've not.

[Local Resident]

Andy Burnham's a lovely guy. He's actually my neighbour. I've seen him out and about when we've been on walks with the kids and stuff. He's always very friendly, always approachable. Do I think he'll make a difference? I don't know.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

He isn't saying, come home to Labour.

[Local Resident]

No, no, he's not.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

I'm thinking that.

[Daryl Morris]

And Daryl, you were out and about talking to people not that long ago in the Makerfield by election. Is there a sense that the mood has changed, you know, now that Burnham is in number 10? Is there a bit of a bounce with that for Labour? Is there a sense that his ideas of devolution. Could this be the recipe that wins back red wall seats for the party?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

The easy answer is, yes, there is absolutely a bounce. But the more complicated element is that Greater Manchester is a political microclimate at the moment, because we have this extremely unique situation where somebody who was incredibly popular, Andy Burnham, one of the great coalition builders in British politics, he used his power as the mayor of Greater Manchester. Not all plain sailing, not all successes, but just enough of them to sort of be able to demonstrate to people that he has been present in their lives and also standing up to the government during the COVID thing and all that was huge. Our colleague Patrick Maguire at the Times described him as the sort of Kim Jong un of Greater Manchester politics, and he absolutely is. And this incredibly popular character has found himself on the national stage. So absolutely Labour are getting a bounce out of that. But remember, it is a microclimate. All of those things are quite unique to Greater Manchester. So it will be interesting to see, yes, how it plays out in this by election, but how that extrapolates across the country, too.

[Daryl Morris]

Fascinating. And, Daryl, since it is a by election, we. We know the drill. I think you'd better give us a. A list of. A full list of the candidates.

[Manchester Political Reporter]

Yes. My favourite bit of any talk about a by election. The candidates standing in this Greater Manchester mayoral election are Sian Astley for Reform uk, Geraldine Coggins for the Green Party, Bev Craig for the Labour Party, Phil Eckersley for the Conservative Party, Marcus Farmer is an Independent, Richard Kilpatrick for the Liberal Democrats and Marlon west for Restore Britain.

[Daryl Morris]

Daryl, you, as you said at the start, have managed to work in. In Manchester for years now as a broadcaster. A lot of people don't, you know, they leave Manchester to seek their. Their careers down south. Do you feel like this moment where suddenly it's absolutely at the focal point for all Westminster politics, it seems. Is this a moment that changes? Is this the moment that we actually see the north south divide rebalancing a bit?

[Manchester Political Reporter]

I think it could be, but it remains to be seen. There are a lot of questions, aren't there, about what sort of powers are going to be devolved, who are they going to be devolved to? Does Andy Burnham thrust power onto people who are not ready for it and it becomes chaotic? Does he not hand enough power to people, denying them some levers that they can pull to make a real genuine change in their community? One thing that I would say here in Greater Manchester is that you can feel that shift in the air, but how far does it go? How successful is it? What decisions actually get made and by who and where? And will decisions made closer to the ground mean better decisions? All remain to be seen. They are all up in the air.

[Daryl Morris]

That was the Times radio presenter, Daryl Morris, and he'll be live on Times Radio all day on Friday with the results of the bar election as they come in. The producer today was Olivia Case. The executive producer was Harry Stott. Sound design was by Dave Creasy and theme composition was by Malicetto. If you can do, leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts and if you'd like to get in touch with us, do drop us a line to the story. Thanks for listening. We'll be back tomorrow.

[Dan Snow]

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