Health Secretary Wes Streeting emerges as leadership challenger, warring sides pause for King’s speech
London: With the government in disarray and senior minister Wes Streeting preparing to seek the top job, warring factions are preparing for a harrowing battle over the Labor leadership after a brief recess following King Charles’ speech to the British parliament.
At the opening of parliament at Westminster on Wednesday morning, all parties stood to hear the King’s speech, despite the uproar over the conduct of the government; the monarch read a policy agenda that would not survive the leadership leak.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is daring rivals who want to unseat him to stage a formal contest by declaring that he was elected by the people who voted in the general election and that he will focus on his job.
Health Secretary Streeting met Starmer in Downing Street for around 20 minutes on Wednesday morning (late Wednesday AEST) to discuss leadership, but made no public statement about his plans in the hours after the meeting.
After the King addressed parliament, Streeting’s allies informed the British press of his intention to launch a challenge as soon as the next day.
The maneuvers continue a long series of maneuvers used to put pressure on Starmer following the devastating defeat of Labor candidates in local and regional elections last Thursday, but Streeting has faced fresh heat in parliament over his leadership moves.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has hit out at the health minister during questions in the House of Commons, accusing the government of being slow to deliver on promises to fix the NHS.
“I think the health secretary has been a bit distracted lately, hasn’t he? Why don’t you just do your job? Do your job,” Badenoch said in an inaudible response to Streeting across the room.
“There’s no point in him giving me dirty looks,” he added. “We all know what he did.”
Streeting, 43, is a centrist who was president of the National Union of Students from 2008 to 2010, became a local councilor for a north London borough in 2010 and entered parliament in 2015. He has been Minister for Health since Labor won the general election in 2024.
Another leading candidate who features regularly in the media is Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester and a prominent figure on the left, but does not sit in parliament.
Burnham would face a serious disadvantage in the leadership contest if Streeting acted quickly before any MPs were willing to give up their seat in the House of Commons so Burnham could enter a by-election.
Operating rules state that a challenger must have the support of 20 percent of the party in parliament to be able to challenge. The party has 403 members in the House of Commons, meaning Streeting needed 81 members to back an official letter to the party’s general secretary, Hollie Ridley, who is an ally of Starmer. This will trigger a leadership election among thousands of party members.
Starmer’s office offered a cautious response to the question, as both sides prepare for an all-out contest. Times He asked whether he believed ministers would still be in office at the weekend.
A spokesman told the newspaper: “The Prime Minister has full confidence in his cabinet.” This was reported as an expression of confidence in Streeting.
Telegram of London reported on its front page on May 2 that more than 80 people were already behind Streeting and “ready to challenge” Starmer, but that the contest had progressed slowly since the reversal in the May 7 election.
In London on Wednesday (late Wednesday night, AEST) multiple media outlets reported that Streeting would challenge Starmer the following day.
Despite months of speculation, Streeting has made no public statements about his intentions or agenda to become leader. Instead, his allies briefed the media to voice their support, which has yet to be tested.
Starmer’s supporters sought to fend off the challenge by publishing a letter of support backed by 110 MPs, while the prime minister appointed allies to replace four junior ministers who resigned on Wednesday and appeared to be aligned with Streeting.
Burnham’s supporters have expressed hope that fiscal rules will be relaxed to allow more spending, but financial markets are sending a strong signal about investors’ concerns about government debt and political instability.
The yield on the 10-year UK government bond fell slightly to 5.07 per cent on Wednesday afternoon (3am AEST on Thursday). This is a broad measure of the government’s borrowing costs on public debt, and has risen since 4.7 percent a year ago.
Government’s public sector net debt is approximately £2.8 trillion (approximately $5.2 trillion), representing 94 percent of GDP.
Take notes directly from our foreign country reporters about things that make headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What’s on in the World Newsletter.
David Crowe is the European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect with: X or email.
