As the UK’s new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, launches his power base in Manchester—the snappily monikered No. 10 North—we decided to draw up a fantasy list of works the Labour leader may want to hang at the new government hub (all with a nod to the region).
Our No. 10 North selection is a bit of summer fun—we could have thrown in a maquette of Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North for good measure—but it also recalls the UK Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's Arts Everywhere policy, announced to much fanfare in February 2025, which actively encourages publicly funded museums and galleries to increase their engagement with people, wherever they are.
In practice, the Arts Everywhere policy means loaning works of art around the country to schools, hospitals, council chambers and libraries, for example, with the Government Art Collection leading the way. As highlighted in policy work undertaken by The Cultural Policy Unit—led by Alison Cole, an editor-at-large at The Art Newspaper—reforms to the onerous Government Indemnity Scheme, which provides insurance cover for works while out on loan, could meanwhile make it much easier for museums to get their masterpieces out and about. So let’s get the art on the road Andy!
1. David Hockney's Bigger Trees near Warter (2007), Tate
The inspirational landscapes of Yorkshire and the seat of a national treasure.
2. Barbara Hepworth's Sculpture with Colour (Oval Form), Pale Blue and Red (1943), Hepworth Wakefield
A celebration of female innovation and creativity (in technicolour).
3. Chila Kumari Singh Burman's Raspberry Ripples, Chila’s Dad Selling Ice Cream on Freshfield Beach, Merseyside 1976 (2018), Government Art Collection
A colourful celebration of family, migration and entrepreneurship—fancy a choc ice?
4. L.S. Lowry's Going to the Match (1953), The Lowry
The power of community and a focus on the beautiful game.
5. Ryan Gander and Eric Cantona's Privileges of Hindsight, Manchester International Festival, 2025
Culture and football, Manchester and the EU—a perfect marriage.
6. Martin Creed's Work No. 975, Everything Is Going To Be Alright (2008), National Galleries of Scotland
Wakefield-born Creed’s inspirational neon work could hang over the door of No. 10—a message to the nation?