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Manchesterism is coming to London. In Andy Burnham, the country finally looks set to have a Prime Minister for whom a passion for place and a commitment to devolution are political fundamentals.They were at the heart of last week's big speech, his first major intervention since winning June's Makerfield by-election, with pledges to create a new No10 North as ‘the nerve centre for a rewired Britain' and to bring about ‘the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen'.Like many of you, I have been wanging on about place for 20 years, and critical thinking about a much more ambitious and impactful approach to devolution has been central to the work of the Future Governance Forum (FGF) since we launched in 2023. So it was great to see it given such prominence by Burnham who, as a former mayor of Greater Manchester, knows a thing or two about the challenges and rewards of wresting power from Westminster out to the regions.Look for areas to turbocharge progress that has already been made. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act has already established the concept of new strategic authorities with increasing earned autonomy. FGF has worked with London Councils to argue for how these can be set up to achieve most impact.And he is absolutely right to do so. As every discerning reader of The MJ knows, the UK is a highly centralised country with crippling regional inequality, and that's not coincidental – the latter follows from the former.That said, we have been here before, in rhetorical terms at least. Boris Johnson made ‘levelling up' his core domestic priority before Covid-19, scandals and Treasury intransigence put paid to it.Keir Starmer also talked a good game on devolution: the Labour 2024 manifesto promised to ‘transfer power out of Westminster and into our communities', and his government saw through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act which became law in May.So how can Burnham convert ambition into more practical, sustainable action? Here are three ideas.First, don't be squeamish in thinking about devolution in terms of raw power. As journalist and author Phil Tinline wrote for the FGF earlier this year, politicians need to develop a much more rigorous ‘theory of power': determining where it is overly concentrated and where it is too diffuse, and then redistributing it accordingly. And that includes where Whitehall itself has hoarded too much power and needs to spread it around the country.Second, look for areas to turbocharge progress that has already been made. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act has already established the concept of new strategic authorities with increasing earned autonomy. FGF has worked with London Councils to argue for how these can be set up to achieve most impact.Similarly, Rachel Reeves has already committed to a ‘roadmap' to fiscal devolution to coincide with the autumn Budget. Where could this go further and faster under a Burnham premiership?Third, never forget that devolution is a means, not an end. The outcome is not just more power in the hands of city or town halls – it is how that power is used to improve people's lives and the communities they create together.In that sense, the most important phrase of Andy Burnham's speech when it comes to devolution was when he spelled out what it is all about: ‘Good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart'. That's something we all can, and must, get behind.Nathan Yeowell is executive director of the Future Governance Forum (FGF) and chair of the Greater Gwent Pension Fund

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DEVOLUTION

Devolution: How Burnham can convert ambition into more practical, sustainable action

By Nathan Yeowell | 07 July 2026

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