Andy Burnham's "No. 10 North" initiative, which sees the Prime Minister split his time between Downing Street and a Manchester base at GCHQ's Heron House, is reportedly descending into disarray. Government sources say Burnham underestimated the volume of work required in London and is now struggling to find time to make the trips north, undermining his flagship pledge to decentralise government away from Westminster.

Security officials have raised concerns that a shortage of fully vetted staff at the Manchester site means Burnham would have to be flown to London or Edinburgh if a national emergency arose while he was there, as the GCHQ building is not equipped as a full prime ministerial war room. Aides are also said to be frustrated by his tendency to over-run meetings, with one source likening it to the delays associated with Keir Starmer but "even worse", while his use of the Chequers country retreat has reportedly lapsed entirely. A No. 10 spokesman denied that meetings were running late or that there were any security issues with the Manchester operation.