Wes Streeting quits as minister, clearing way for challenge to Starmer

London: A senior British cabinet minister has quit the government to clear the way for a leadership challenge against Prime Minister Keir Starmer after months of internal dissent and a catastrophic loss for the party in elections last Thursday.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting ended days of speculation by formally resigning from the government in a letter he posted on social media at about 1pm on Thursday in London (about 10pm AEST).

But he did not declare his intention to challenge Starmer and focused his statement on his concerns about the government’s direction, leaving doubt around the timing of the next steps to decide who should run the country.

Without being specific, he called for a broad contest of candidates to debate the party’s future, in a line that observers regarded as an invitation for other contenders to put their names forward.

A vote by Labour party members could take months to organise, leaving the government divided while ministers argue over the leadership.

Another contender for the top post, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, is not in the House of Commons, although his supporters claim an MP would give up his or her seat to allow him to run for parliament and enter a leadership contest.

Former deputy leader Angela Rayner, who stepped down last year over a tax blunder, told The Guardian she wanted to see change, but she was vague about her intentions. When asked whether Starmer should step aside, she said: “Keir will have to reflect on that.”

Streeting made no public comment about his plans in the hour after he released his letter on social media.

“Last week’s election results were unprecedented – both in terms of the scale of the defeat and the consequences of that failure,” he wrote in his letter to Starmer.

“You have many great strengths that I admire. You led our party to a victory few thought possible in 2024 and I was proud to fight alongside you in the trenches of that campaign. You have shown courage and statesmanship on the world stage – not least in keeping Britain out of the war in Iran.

“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.”

Streeting referred to Starmer’s defence of his record in a major speech on Monday, in the wake of the election results, but he highlighted the challenges facing the country and concluded that Starmer was not up to the task.

“These are big challenges that require a bold vision and bigger solutions than we are offering,” 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.

“Serving as your Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has been the greatest joy of my life and, regardless of our differences this week, I remain truly grateful to you for the opportunity to serve and I am deeply saddened to be leaving government in this way.”

The British press has repeatedly named Streeting as a contender for the prime minister’s job for more than a year, and as recently as May 2 said he had the numbers to launch a challenge.

He made no public claim to this, however, and said in his letter that it would have been “dishonourable and unprincipled” to remain in cabinet when he had lost confidence in the prime minister.

Labour rules state that a challenger must gain support from 20 per cent of the parliamentary party to trigger a challenge. The party has 403 members in the House of Commons, which means Streeting needs 81 to back him in order to trigger a vote by party members to choose the leader.

When the party voted on the deputy leadership last year, 87,407 members voted for Lucy Powell – a senior figure on the left – and 73,536 voted for Bridget Phillipson, who was seen as aligned with Starmer.