MANCHESTER, England — Andy Burnham, likely the next U.K.prime minister, pledged Monday to give away a chunk of his power by handing greater autonomy to local leaders in a “circuit-breaker” for the sclerotic British state.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.The former mayor of Greater Manchester also said he would move part of the prime minister’s office from London’s 10 Downing St.
to northwest England as part of “the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen.”“Growth cannot be ordered from the top down.Indeed, it can only be nurtured from the bottom up,” Burnham said in a speech aimed at bringing voters, Labour Party colleagues and financial markets up to speed with his economic vision.Burnham is the strong favorite to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation last week.“If councils can’t fix potholes, what chance do they have of bringing forth major regeneration schemes to get growth going?” Burnham said.
He set out a 10-year plan to get “good growth in every postcode,” in a country where wealth and power are concentrated in London and the south of England.He said he would reverse almost two decades of low growth since the 2008 financial crisis through an approach dubbed “Manchesterism” — harnessing private and public money to invest in areas like transport, housing and infrastructure.He also pledged to create new industrial jobs and better educational opportunities, and to reform the U.K.’s inefficient and expensive privatized water and energy utilities.During the speech at the People’s History Museum in the city where he spent nine years as mayor, Burnham said a new government office in Manchester — dubbed “No.
10 North” — would oversee regional development nationwide and become “the nerve center of a rewired Britain.” Regional mayors will get more power over housing, welfare and education as part of his plan...