Andy Burnham pledges to devolve power 'deeper down' in Wales

Labour's Andy Burnham has used a major speech to say he wants to devolve power "deeper down" in Wales.

Burnham, the man expected to become prime minister in a few weeks' time, said some people in Bangor feel as distant from the Senedd as they do Westminster.

The comments suggest he wants to hand powers to institutions below the level of the Welsh Parliament, such as councils. BBC Wales has asked to clarify what he meant.

Burnham said he would set up a "No 10 North", moving some Downing Street functions to Manchester. But the Welsh first minister, Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth, said that would mean "very little" to people in Wales.

Burnham faced calls to give Wales the same powers as Scotland, with Welsh Liberal Democrat David Chadwick accusing him of leaving the country at the "back of the queue".

At a museum in the city Burnham was previously mayor of, the new MP for Makerfield set out a vision for a "rewired Britain", taking power "out of the centre".

He promised to "bring about the biggest rebalancing of power our country has seen", saying: "It is time for Whitehall to accept that growth cannot be ordered from the top down."

The speech mostly focused on the regions of England, and did not make specific pledges to hand new powers to the Cardiff-based Welsh government.

But he vowed the days of "Whitehall fighting" the devolution of power into the regions of England and the UK nations "are over for good".

"The job of No 10 North will be to make power flow into the Midlands, into the south-west, into the east of England and yes into London," he said, giving examples of English regions he would hand powers to.

"It will be about offering new opportunities to extend devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland by taking power deeper down," he said.

"The people of Dundee and Bangor feel just as distant from Holyrood and the Senedd as they do from Westminster."

Burnham promised "good growth in every postcode", with "powers for areas undergoing industrial transition like Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Aberdeen".

It was not immediately clear what devolving "deeper down" meant, although a Labour source said it did mean devolving to councils and corporate joint committees of local authorities.

Ahead of the speech Ken Skates, the interim leader of Welsh Labour, said: "We need devolution within Wales, not just to Wales, ensuring power is closer to communities."

Skates was in the front row of Burnham's audience on Monday.

He told BBC Wales that Burnham's vow to devolve power "deeper down" means "making sure that power is devolved to the most appropriate level".

"That we shouldn't have a centralised state in Wales, just as we shouldn't have a centralised state at a UK level at Westminster," Skates said.

Under Wales' existing devolution settlement, local government is the responsibility of Cardiff Bay.

The leader of the Welsh Local Government Association, Anthony Hunt, said he hoped Monday's speech would mean more money for Welsh councils to spend - but warned against leaving Welsh government out of the conversation.

Hunt, a Labour politician, said that the UK government should not just "see Welsh government" when it comes to Wales because there was "another level of government too".

But he added: "We all need to get together and have a conversation about how this will work. I understand how the Welsh government has been left out before and that is not healthy."

The pro-independence Plaid Cymru party beat Burnham's Labour in the May 2026 Senedd election, forming a minority government in the vote's wake.

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has set out demands for powers and funding, including devolution of the railways, the Crown Estate, policing and justice.

Most of his demands had been shared by the previous Welsh Labour government, but not the UK government under Sir Keir Starmer.

Burnham's team has previously ruled out reforming the system that governs how the Welsh government is funded, known as the Barnett Formula.

In a statement on Monday, ap Iorwerth said: "A Number 10 of the North will mean very little to the people of Wales."

He added: "Fair funding and parity of powers with Scotland must be a bare minimum for Wales, and I look forward to pursuing a respect agenda that works both ways."

His colleague in the House of Commons, Plaid's Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts, said the focus of the Burnham speech "was very much on 'the regions', which means England.

"For too long, successive UK governments have failed to give Wales the tools we need to thrive and so the 'King of the North' must be clear that Wales is a nation, not a region, and work with the Senedd to enable growth in Welsh postcode areas."

"While Burnham seemed open to extending powers to the devolved nations, this must match the ambition that the people of Wales voted for less than two months ago," she added, referring to Plaid's Senedd election victory.

Welsh Liberal Democrat MP David Chadwick said: "Andy Burnham says he wants to take power out of Westminster, yet today's plans appear to leave Wales once again at the back of the queue compared to English regions.

"If Labour can find the ambition to devolve powers across England, they should have the ambition to give Wales the same powers as Scotland."