Angela Rayner is putting pressure on Andy Burnham to let her lead his No10 North mission alongside a veiled swipe at the outgoing Prime Minister.
The former deputy prime minister’s own leadership ambitions have quietened down since Mr Burnham’s path to Westminster was opened up again last month following his win in the Makefield by-election.
Instead, she is seemingly pitching herself for a top job in Mr Burnham’s team in a bid to further devolution across the UK.
Speaking out for the first time since Sir Keir Starmer stepped aside, the Ashton-under-Lyne MP declared Britain “needs to change politics and give people back control” to fix the economy.
Instead, she said the answer was “real devolution, not the begging-bowl culture of the past, where regional politicians came to Whitehall with their caps in hand, asking permission to run their own bus routes”.
“Devolution means making someone genuinely accountable for getting things done in a place, so the buck cannot be passed any more,” the MP declared.
On Monday, he outlined his agenda to construct a No10 in the North to funnel out power across all corners of the country.
The Makerfield MP, who spent almost a decade out of Westminster as the Mayor of Greater Manchester, confirmed he would send civil servants to the northern hub as part of his push to share out power across the country.
Downing Street’s Manchester branch is expected to focus on long-term economic strategy, with Mr Burnham hoping to spend one or two days in the office.
Speaking to the New Economics Foundation, Ms Rayner reiterated his statement, and accused those currently serving they were merely “tinkering around the edges of the system”.
In the past, Governments had “too often been afraid” of committing to radical change to the inner-workings of the state.
She complained the current system was currently over-centralised and called for a larger power-sharing settlement across the UK.
“We are one of the most over-centralised countries in the developed world. Too many decisions affecting the many are made by too few,” she said.
The MP also boasted about her involvement in the Devolution Act, which was passed back in April.
As part of the new legislation, powers have been funneled from central Government in London, and handed over to small councils and regions up and down England.
However, she complained of “institutional resistance to fiscal devolution”, optimistically adding: “But we have shown it can be overcome.”
She added: “The Devolution Act gives all mayors London-style planning powers – a new framework that can be expanded and built upon…
“The Act is the beginning, not the end, of breaking away from the command and control culture of Whitehall that has held us back for too long.”
