LOCAL MP Rachel Gilmour fears Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham may neglect local communities as he focuses on northern issues where he was previously Mayor of Manchester.

Mr Burnham is set to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as Labour Party leader after the close of leadership nominations on July 15, or after July 31 if ‘affiliate nominations’ are also required.

He has promised to rebalance power in the UK by devolving decision-making from Whitehall and setting up a ‘No. 10 North’ based in Manchester.

Mrs Gilmour, whose Tiverton and Minehead constituency takes in West Somerset and some parishes bordering Wellington as well as parts of the Blackdown Hills and Culm Valley, nicknamed Mr Burnham ‘Avanti Andy’, after the company Avanti West Coast which operates the Euston to Manchester Piccadilly railway line.

She said ‘Avanti Andy’ must change track on his approach to devolution to ensure communities outside of London and Manchester, including the Tiverton and Minehead constituency, were ‘not left behind’.

Mrs Gilmour said he needed to address the inequalities facing many coastal and rural areas beyond the Euston to Manchester Piccadilly line.

She said plans for a ‘No. 10 North’ risked creating a new ‘bubble of power’ pushing Government even further away from neglected towns and cities.

Mrs Gilmour, said: “After the communities in my constituency have suffered through decades of Conservative decline, we need real power handed back to local people.

“But, shifting an outpost of Downing Street to Manchester is not true devolution, it risks just shunting local opportunity further down the line.

“From improved public transport infrastructure to ensuring the South West maintains its vital NHS services, the Liberal Democrats will hold Andy Burnham’s feet to the fire.

“‘Avanti Andy’ is hurtling towards signal failure if he does not rapidly realise there is a Britain that lies beyond the tracks connecting Euston and Manchester Piccadilly.”