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“I used to see him in Piccadilly Gardens when he was mayor,” said Mr Kuyateh He seems like a nice man,” said Mr Kuyateh. “He doesn’t think of himself as too high, even though he’s in that position.”

Kuyateh believes Mr Burnham did a good job as mayor of Greater Manchester and said he had no doubts he would continue as Prime Minister.

On Friday (July 24), the new PM left Whitehall for Manchester to work from the new No 10 North at Heron House. It is the first time in British history a northern branch has operated outside 10 Downing Street.

My Burnham arrived at around 10.30am in a blacked out Range Rover, along with a police convoy. He was driven straight inside the back entrance, so no one got a glimpse of him. A security fence was erected so that no one could get too close to the entrance.

He chaired a meeting of the National Economic Council, a Cabinet committee first launched in 2008 to respond to economic challenges.

“I cannot tell you what a proud moment this is,” the PM told staff just after arriving. “I think this might be the best day of my life.”

Louise Haigh, the First Secretary of State who will be running No 10 North, arrived by the front entrance. She did not stop to answer questions.

She did later tell the Manchester Evening News the whole operation had taken just four days to set up and insisted the site was very secure.

Paul and Maria Rafter had travelled from Wilmslow to register their newborn daughter, Eloise.

An unassuming building from the outside, Heron House is not only the new No 10 and home to the intelligence service GCHQ, it also happens to be a place to register births and weddings.

The couple went inside just after 9am so weren’t in the building at the same time as the new Prime Minster. “He’s made the north feel important now,” said Paul. “It’s good to see the city on the up.”

Maria added: “It’s an interesting time now, let’s be honest.” It was a day of celebrations in every sense, with multiple weddings and graduations also taking place.

Newly married couple Hazel and Martin Dewhurst were pleasantly surprised that they were sharing their big day with Mr Burnham. “My daughter Martha declared in front of everyone that I was marrying Andy Burnham,” said 41-year-old teacher Hazel.

“We didn’t see him at all though. But it’s been a double celebration for us. It’s a great honour.” They said Mr Burnham ‘stands up for the North’ and are excited about what he can do for Greater Manchester.

“We voted for him as mayor and we’re proud he’s gone on to do this,” said 47-year-old finance worker Martin. There seemed to be a real buzz in the city as passers by stopped outside Heron House in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the new PM.

Tourists were intrigued, asking the pool of journalists what was happening and when Mr Burnham would be coming out. “You guys change Prime Ministers often don’t you?” said Runar. Son Jon said it was ‘weird’.

Ditto Cafe, parallel to No 10 North, was busier than usual. “We had no prior warning about this,” one staff member told the Manchester Evening News. “Friday is normally quiet, by this time [9.30am] we get about 25 tickets. So far we’ve had 70.”

Gary Wilkinson, from Didsbury, believes a northern powerbase can only be a good thing for the region. “You can’t have power centralised in one place,” the 59-year-old said. The move out of SW1 is a conscious effort from Mr Burnham to move power away from London and into the north as part of his devolution mission.

Yet concerns have been raised about the cost of this new office to taxpayers. But Mr Wilkinson wasn’t too fussed about that.

“That’s why we pay taxes so he can go wherever he wants,” he shrugged. “That’s the idea isn’t it? That’s what they do in other countries.”

That’s certainly the message Mr Burnham wanted to get out there. “It's not just a new office,” he told everyone inside.

“Through this place, power is going to flow, energy is going to flow, new ideas are going to come through, the region's going to play back their ambitions here and the team is then going to say, right, we're behind you, we're going to make things work. That is a different way of running Britain.”

Not everyone who came out was impressed.

“How can a person who twice lost the leadership election in the past and hasn’t even been elected Prime minister do this?,” said one man who only wished to be known as a ‘disgruntled’ voter.

“He went up against Jeremy Corbyn and he couldn’t even beat him. The whole thing is a farce. Burnham is a smooth character, I’ll give him that. He can speak without an autocue. I’ve been in the same room as him, he’s eloquent. But he’s a career politician.”

His friend Adel Shirin said he was not impressed with the optics of Labour MPs queuing up to take a selfie with Mr Burnham on his first day back in Westminster.

“Look what they did to Keir Starmer - it made them look like a bunch of backstabbers,” he said. As well as the politicians supporting Mr Burnham – including at least four regional mayors – there were some who had to express their dismay.

Geraldine Coggins, the Green Party candidate for the Greater Manchester mayoral by-election, had written an open letter to Mr Burnham.

While she said it was ‘lovely’ to have him back in the region, she said he had ‘left behind a legacy of rising homelessness, more children in temporary accommodation, and soaring rents’.

Sian Astley, from Reform UK, said while it’s a ‘good idea to have devolution if it drives investments and growth’, she said she was concerned about the potential cost to taxpayers.

“We have to be absolutely sure that people are getting the benefit,” she added.

Leaning against the security fence, Josh Woodworth and Taylor Buckley were having an animated discussion on why having Mr Burnham as PM would be good for the north.

“People are attacking him for not having enough meat on the bone, but he needs time. He’s announcing a few things in the saying, I can’t do everything yet but here’s something in the meantime,” said 35-year-old Josh.

Though they both acknowledged Mr Burnham had not eradicated rough sleeping in the region – he vowed to end it by 2020 while campaigning to be Greater Manchester before he was elected in 2017 – they now think as PM he may have more powers to make that possible.

“He can give local councils more funding to end it,” said 19-year-old Taylor. Sidney, a Reform UK voter, said: “I think having this [No 10 North] will bring in more tourists. But he needs to sort out the homeless problem.”

Rumours were flying that Mr Burnham was going to give an appearance at 3pm – and then he didn’t. By then, even the kora player had left, despite being ‘good friends’ with the PM.

The metro mayors, however, made an appearance shortly after. Steve Rotheram, Liverpool Metro Mayor and friend of Mr Burnham, was in good spirits. He remained tight-lipped about what the PM's forthcoming plans were.

“Over the next few weeks you’re going to get a better understanding of why we are so confident that this can deliver growth now,” he told the Manchester Evening News.

We shall see.

Still, the crowds waited. And they waited, growing more impatient. Eventually, they took to applauding any member of staff leaving the building. One young man cried out: “I’ll be here ‘til I die!”

5pm came and went. Then it was 6pm. Then 6.30pm. The crowds continued to wait for a glimpse of the man who, throughout his nine years as Greater Manchester mayor built his personal brand around being approachable.

At last, just before 7pm, the crowd got what it had waited for. Mr Burnham stepped out from the revolving doors of Heron House, waved and shouted out: “I love you Manchester!”

Those few seconds proved enough for those who had waited all day to catch a glimpse of the new man in charge.