Daily Mail City Editor Alex Brummer argues that Andy Burnham, who is set to become Prime Minister later this month, will struggle to loosen the Treasury's grip on power despite his plans to shift some executive authority from London to Manchester. Burnham intends to create a "national growth unit" dubbed "No 10 North", spending one or two days a week in the North West and devolving powers to elected mayors and local authorities. Brummer contends that this challenge to Treasury dominance matters because the finance ministry, not Downing Street, has long been the true centre of power in British government.

The piece stresses the Treasury's bureaucratic heft, noting it employs more than 1,600 staff against No 10's roughly 300, and holds veto power over spending decisions that might unsettle financial markets. Brummer cites past prime ministers and chancellors, including Gordon Brown's distrust of Treasury officials, and an Institute for Government study warning of a damaging imbalance of power. He is critical of current Chancellor Rachel Reeves, blaming Treasury orthodoxy for missteps such as the reversed cut to winter fuel payments and business tax rises, and warns that jittery bond markets make funding Burnham's ambitions difficult, though he notes the Treasury's own intellectual strength may be waning.