Wes Streeting quit as health secretary on Thursday, telling Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in his resignation letter that he no longer had confidence in his leadership. The letter described a government adrift and short of vision.
Streeting pointed to his own record, including shorter NHS waiting times, and said there were “good reasons for me to remain in post”. But he went on: “As you know from our conversation earlier this week, having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to do so.”
He blamed the “unpopularity of this government” for Labour’s poor showing in last week’s elections. “Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords,” he wrote. Labour needed a vision, he said, and instead “we have a vacuum”.
No challenge, yet
Streeting did not say he was launching a bid for the leadership. He wrote that Labour MPs and unions wanted a “battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism”, with “the best possible field of candidates”. The BBC said he appeared to nod toward Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham without naming him. Burnham would first have to win a parliamentary by-election.
Under Labour’s rules a challenger needs 81 MPs behind them to force a contest. Starmer’s supporters said Streeting was nowhere near that number, and one claimed he had only 44 committed backers. That ally said “the idea you can brief something into reality is for the birds”. Streeting’s camp countered that he had the numbers but chose to press the prime minister for a timetable for his exit instead. “He’s got the numbers,” one supporter told the BBC. “He doesn’t believe in stitching up a contest and keeping candidates out of the race.”
Alan Gemmell, the MP for Central Ayrshire, said Streeting had more than 81 supporters but had “taken a principled decision today not to trigger a contest”. He added: “I’m sure that we will see Wes making the argument for why he would be a great leader of our country.”
Reaction in the party
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Starmer “has my full support” and the cabinet behind him. Streeting had done “a fantastic job”, she said, “but I fundamentally disagree with the position he’s taken”.
Catherine West, the Labour MP who had threatened to challenge Starmer only days earlier, said the prime minister could still fight on. “He’s got excellent credentials on the international stage and he could well win a competition if he put his name forward,” she told the BBC.
Starmer told colleagues on Wednesday evening: “We cannot let a leadership contest plunge us into chaos – a challenge would 100% do that.” Four ministers had already quit that week, and dozens of Labour MPs had urged him to go after heavy losses across England, Scotland and Wales.
Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, said on Thursday that she had settled her tax affairs with HMRC, paying £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty. She told the Guardian she did not rule out running for leader but would not “trigger” a contest.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Labour had “descended into civil war”. “While they’re sharpening their knives and plotting in the bars of Westminster, nobody is running the country,” she said.
