The three ways Starmer could be ousted as PM after Streeting coup rumours
Wes Streeting has denied plotting to oust Sir Keir Starmer after Downing Street intervened over claims a potential leadership coup was afoot.
Dismissing the speculation, the health minister said the claims were “self-defeating and self-destructive” and compared them to conspiracy theories.
He told Sky News on Wednesday: “I think whoever is reporting on this is watching too much Famous Traitors.
“This is a completely self-defeating briefing, especially because it’s not true and I don’t understand why anyone thought it would be helpful to the prime minister,” he added, calling for those who prepared the briefings to be sacked.
The incident has led many to wonder how possible a leadership change in 10th place might be as Labor continues to fall in the polls.
Political sources have been briefing the media for months that most Labor MPs are unhappy with the Prime Minister’s performance and would welcome a new leader and the much-needed popularity boost it could bring.
Many names have been put forward as the most likely candidates; Mr Streeting is the most obvious name. Joining him on the list of runners and cyclists are Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, Defense Minister John Healey and even former Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Minister Angela Rayner.
Here’s how this can happen:
Starmer resigned
In recent years, the most common way for a Prime Minister to leave office has been to resign outright. Damaged credibility, low popularity in polls, ministerial resignations; All of this might be enough for an embattled prime minister to end this one day.
While this is the most likely path Sir Keir will take, most political analysts agree he has a long way to go before he gets to that point. The upcoming Budget, as well as local elections in May 2026, will be decisive in securing the Prime Minister’s future.
If the public reaction to the financial incident is negative and the results of this election are bad news for Labor (which early polls suggest), then the prime minister could see unrest grow within the party ranks.
Three of the previous four prime ministers bowed to the pressure of their parties in this way and resigned in the face of intense pressure.
In July 2022, Boris Johnson resigned after surviving more scandals than most.
Just a month ago, Conservative MPs held a vote of no confidence in the prime minister in response to the “Partygate” scandal. However, Mr Johnson narrowly avoided impeachment by winning 58.8 per cent of the vote in the process.
The Chris Pincher scandal would soon prove too much. The mass resignation of 11 ministers, who characteristically initially refused to bow to political pressure, eventually prompted Mr Johnson to make the final move and announce his resignation.
leadership struggle
Each party in parliament has a different approach to challenging its leadership; This means Sir Keir will not face the same vote of confidence that Mr Johnson did in 2022.
Instead, Labor MPs could trigger a leadership challenge if a candidate is put forward by 20 per cent of MPs (currently equal to 81). This candidate must be a member of parliament.
The incumbent leader will automatically be included on the ballot, and the vote will then be presented to members as in regular leadership elections.
The last time this happened was in 2016, when then-leader Jeremy Corbyn was challenged by Owen Smith, nearly a year after he was first elected.
Some 172 Labor MPs triggered the vote, while the 40 opposing MPs would eventually re-elect Mr Corbyn with an increased majority.
vote of no confidence
It is part of the UK constitution that the government must be able to have the confidence of the House of Commons. When this is in doubt, a vote of confidence could be triggered, forcing the current government to resign, or a general election could be called.
The most common way for this to happen is for the leader of the opposition (currently Kemi Badenoch) to introduce a vote of no confidence and make it clear that the House has lost confidence in the government.
But given Labour’s huge majority in the House of Commons (it holds 405 of 650 seats) this vote is unlikely to pass. The election of any Labor MPs who vote against the government will be open to the public, meaning the majority will have a high bar to oppose the current administration.
Therefore, this defeat of a government is rare and has occurred only once since the end of World War II. This was in 1979, when James Callaghan’s minority Labor government was defeated by an incredible 311 to 310 margin. The general election triggered by this vote would see the Conservatives win, led by Margaret Thatcher, and put Labor out of power for the next 18 years.
In the past, governments have triggered a vote of no confidence in themselves by declaring a key policy a “trust issue”.
