See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy GREG HEFFER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT Published: 14:47 BST, 1 July 2026 | Updated: 14:48 BST, 1 July 2026
Keir Starmer's right-hand man today warned that Andy Burnham's drive to spread power across Britain should not just mean hiring more officials at taxpayers' expense.Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, suggested the size of Whitehall departments should 'shrink' if some of their roles are moved away from London.Mr Burnham, who is almost certain to replace Sir Keir in Downing Street, has announced plans for a 'rewired Britain' with power shifted from Westminster to the regions.The former Greater Manchester mayor has also pledged to establish a 'No10 North' in Manchester to act as a 'nerve centre' for the plan.In a speech to the Re:State think tank on Wednesday, Mr Jones said Mr Burnham had 'rightly set out' that there was an 'overcentralisation of power and bureaucracy in Westminster'.But he added that 'devolution must mean devolution, not duplication' as he bemoaned how previous efforts at shifting power away from London had not seen a reduction in the number of civil servants in Whitehall.Mr Jones is a close ally of Sir Keir and was considered by Starmer loyalists as a potential challenger to Mr Burnham but has ruled out running for the Labour leadership.He acknowledged that he was 'potentially redundant in a couple of weeks' if, as is widely expected, Mr Burnham becomes PM on 20 July. Andy Burnham, who is almost certain to replace Keir Starmer in Downing Street, has announced plans for a 'rewired Britain' with power shifted from Westminster to the regions. Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, suggested the size of Whitehall departments should 'shrink' if some of their roles are moved away from London .In his speech, Mr Jones said Whitehall needed to have a less 'parental' approach to the regions and avoid duplicating roles that were being performed by mayors' offices. He said: 'When I ask the question: 'As we've devolved things to combined authorities have we reduced the headcount in London by a commensurate amount?' No, headcount has increased.'And I just say to Whitehall, with the direction of where the political winds are blowing, I think this is a clear warning: devolution must mean devolution, not duplication.'In the past, we've gone down the path of replicating checks, both in the regions and in Westminster, creating more state rather than more power in those regions.'So, for this to truly work, Westminster must trust local leaders to make the right decisions and instead of an almost parental relationship, we need to actually devolve power and accountability across the country.'Mr Jones added that 'if you're really committed to devolution, you should see a change in the shape of London departments'.Asked if the Government would have to think about which departments remained in existence if there was genuine devolution to the UK's nations and regions, he said: 'I think in the long run, probably yes.'I think in the short-to-medium term, I would expect them to at least change shape or shrink.'
