How Keir Starmer can reassert his authority by sacking Wes Streeting as health secretary

IIt is now clear that Wes Streeting plans to resign to trigger a leadership election against Sir Keir Starmer.

Mr Streeting’s allies confirmed: Independent He said that this was the Minister of Health’s intention, but he had not yet taken this step.

We still don’t know the details of Mr Streeting’s 16-minute showdown with the prime minister in Number 10 on Wednesday morning. But those close to Mr Streeting clearly understand which path he plans to take now.

The only question that remains is why the prime minister does not sack the health minister now and the leadership does not dare to oppose him.

But we even know that Sir Keir has decided to wait and Downing Street has even said he has “full confidence” in the man who is ready to leave his government. He probably failed a test of strength spectacularly.

This suggests that one of the criticisms of Sir Keir is that he allowed himself to become a prisoner of events and was forced to follow rather than lead.

A long series of U-turns, a significant retreat on welfare reform and scores of MPs calling for his resignation have highlighted a prime minister out of control.

Even now, after declaring “full confidence” in Streeting, all he has to do is sack a man who is apparently already planning to resign, to show he has staying power. By doing this, the prime minister will signal that he is responsible and has the strength to deal with his opponents and critics.

At this point Sir Keir has little to lose by sacking Mr Streeting unless he believes he will actually resign.

We know that the Prime Minister was close to sacking Mr Streeting for trying to stage a leadership coup in December. And as reported Independent We know that earlier this year Sir Keir considered sacking the health secretary again for disloyalty as part of a wider reshuffle.

For his part, the change could mean the embattled Prime Minister purges some of those who were disloyal, giving him a chance to reassert his authority.

Given the seniority of the health minister’s position in the government hierarchy, whoever takes on this role will need to be an established cabinet minister.

This could be Darren Jones, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, a key Starmer ally, or housing minister Steve Reed or welfare minister Pat McFadden.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper, who privately told him to stand down earlier this week, will be under threat. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who is believed to be making a leadership bid, may also be under threat.

Others who do not perform well may also be dismissed; culture minister Lisa Nandy (an ally of Andy Burnham) and Wales secretary Jo Stevens top that list.

He could then bring in others to reshape his cabinet. The Prime Minister said he wanted Angela Rayner back. Appointing Ms. Rayner as health minister could close some of the threat pipeline against her if she accepts. And Louise Haigh is one to watch out for.

But this is the moment when Sir Keir can finally take charge of the situation and prove to his party that he is the leader who won a huge majority less than two years ago.