Labour latest: Streeting quits to fire gun on leadership contest

A Labour backbencher has told the Press Association Wes Streeting has ‘screwed himself good and proper’ following his resignation.

The unnamed MP said his resignation letter ‘reads like he has no numbers’ to make a leadership challenge himself.

Allies of Sir Keir Starmer and Wes Streeting had been at odds over claims the former Health Secretary has the support of 81 MPs to trigger a leadership contest.

Labour backbencher Jonathan Brash reiterated his call for Sir Keir Starmer to set out a timetable for his departure following Wes Streeting’s resignation from Cabinet.

The Hartlepool MP posted on X:

The call for a broad contest with the best possible field of candidates is absolutely right from Wes Streeting.

The Prime Minister should now do the right thing for the country and set a timetable.

Daily Mail columnist Dan Hodges says Wes Streeting’s call for the ‘best possible field of candidates’ implies Andy Burnham should have the opportunity to stand for the leadership.

The Health Secretary has fired the gun on a challenge to Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership which is now in crisis.

All eyes will surely turn to Mr Burnham and whether he has a seat to get himself back in the Commons.

Wes Streeting told Sir Keir Starmer he needs to ‘listen to his backbenchers’ as he criticised his leadership in his resignation letter.

Around 90 Labour MPs have called on Sir Keir to stand down while four ministers have resigned over his leadership

Mr Streeting wrote:

But where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift. This was underscored by your speech on Monday.

Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords.

You also need to listen to your colleagues, including backbenchers, and the heavy-handed approach to dissenting voices diminishes our politics.

In his resignation letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Wes Streeting said he ‘concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled’ to continue under his leadership.

He wrote:

It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour Unions want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism.

It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope that you will facilitate this.

Read his full letter here:

Wes Streeting has quit as Health Secretary, paving the way for a potential leadership challenge against Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

In his resignation letter, Mr Streeting criticised the ‘drift’ at the top of Government and told the Prime Minister it is ‘clear’ he will not lead Labour into the next election.

Mr Streeting’s resignation follows days of turmoil in which calls have mounted for the Prime Minister to step down in the wake of Labour’s election mauling last week.

Sir Keir Starmer would lose a head-to-head leadership vote against Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband…but not Wes Streeting.

A new poll by Labour List shows the Prime Minister would see off any challenge from the Health Secretary if the pair were put to members in a two-horse race.

Here are the results of the poll below:

A Labour MP in Manchester has declared he will not stand down for Andy Burnham amid reports he is preparing to give up his seat.

According to The Times, Afzal Khan is considering allowing the Manchester Mayor a run at the Commons by vacating his Manchester Rusholme seat.

The newspaper reports Mr Khan is waiting to see if Wes Streeting launches a leadership challenge before making a final decision.

But today Mr Khan has dismissed the report and declared, ‘ I don’t know where these rumours are coming from’.

He told the New Statesman: ‘There is no question of me resigning’.

Daily Mail columnist Dan Hodges says while much of the attention in Westminster remains on Wes Streeting, Andy Burnham is garnering a lot of interest as well.

The Greater Manchester Mayor is reportedly set to announce he has found a seat to return to the Commons and stake his claim for the leadership.

Downing Street declined to comment on Angela Rayner’s announcement she has been cleared by HMRC, despite Sir Keir Starmer previously suggesting there was a path back to Government for her if she were exonerated.

Asked whether there was a route back for her or whether there were still question marks over her underpayment of stamp duty, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘I think you’re asking about hypothetical Cabinet change, which I’m not going to engage in’.

He added: ‘It’s not for me to comment on an individual’s tax affairs, and as I say, she’s addressed quite a lot about herself this morning’.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed has arrived in Downing Street, ignoring questions from reporters as he entered No 10.

It has been reported Mr Reed and Sir Keir are due to attend a housing visit this afternoon.

Angela Rayner has said she has been cleared of deliberate wrongdoing in an investigation over her tax affairs, paving the way for a potential leadership bid amid uncertainty over Sir Keir Starmer’s future.

As Health Secretary Wes Streeting mulls whether to launch a challenge to the Prime Minister, Sir Keir’s former deputy did not rule out running in any race but said she would not ‘trigger’ a contest.

Ms Rayner, the MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, said the investigation into her underpayment of stamp duty, which led to her departure from Government, had ‘clipped her wings’.

She said: ‘I’ll play my part in doing everything we possibly can to deliver the change, because it’s not a personal ambition, I know the difference it makes.’

But do you think Ms Rayner would win a Labour leadership contest? Vote in the Daily Mail’s latest poll: