Burnham’s Northern Number 10 'out of touch' and 'parochial' says Tory MP

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Rebecca Smith represents the constituency of South West Devon in parliament, and fears Andy Burnham’s plans "exclude basically anything south of Manchester".

The incoming Prime Minister has previously laid out proposals for the “Number 10 North” which he says will help redistribute power across the UK and "drive good growth in every postcode".

But Ms Smith told LBC: "I understand what he's saying, it's not all about London, but to pick the next biggest city that he happens to have been the mayor of and ignore everywhere else, I just think is a bit out of touch.

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"I actually think this concept of a Number 10 office in Manchester doesn't actually just exclude the south. It excludes basically anything south of Manchester, so the Midlands and then obviously the whole south of England.

"But then the far southwest would be even further detrimentally impacted."

It is understood Mr Burnham’s plan for "Number 10 North" would not be for a second Downing Street, but for a hub to drive his “devolution and growth agenda”.

The future Prime Minister is reportedly set on Manchester Digital Campus in Ancoats as the home of the “nerve centre” but is searching for an interim location while building work at that site continues.

Ms Smith added: "That's actually not sending the right message to the rest of the country. It's picking out one place and saying this place matters more than everywhere else because he thinks London shouldn't be the centre.

"I just feel like it could well backfire on him. He just doesn't really understand that the south is very varied and that actually the south isn't just London.

"The south is the whole coast, you know, the deprived coastal communities, the rural areas, um, further down into the far South West.

"You've got all of Devon and Cornwall with universities, manufacturing, defence facilities, you've got a huge amount going on.

"And in one fell swoop, by saying we need a Manchester number 10, he's sort of lumping everything in the South West in with London."

But Mr Burnham’s proposal for a second Prime Minister’s office outside London has won backing from long-serving Bristol Labour MP and ally Kerry McCarthy.

Speaking to LBC, Ms McCarthy said a future Labour government could "replicate" his commitment to Manchester in other parts of the country.

She said the party understands "it will look different depending on whether you're in a small town or whether you're in coastal areas or rural areas."

She added: "I think if you've got that place-based idea, you really translate it into outcomes."

But Conservative MP Ms Smith isn’t convinced, saying by having an office in the city he was formerly mayor, Mr Burnham is "basically taking the bit that he knows and wanting to make sure that that still gets all the best bits".

"I just don't think that's prime ministerial. I think that's actually quite parochial in a weird way," she said.

" I don't think it does show this vision. I think it says 'I want my hometown to do better than everywhere else, thanks.'

"And actually, if you're the Prime Minister, you've got to be in it for the whole country.

"I just think we'll have more of the chaos that we've had over the last 2 years."

The Makerfield MP will become the leader of the Labour party today and will officially become Prime Minister on Monday.