Wes Streeting ‘frustrated’ by ‘technocratic approach’ to governing

His intervention will do nothing to quell speculation about the Prime Minister’s political future as Labour struggles in the polls.

Downing Street said the Government had a “great story to tell” and insisted that what Mr Streeting was “setting out is that the public voted for change”.

Mr Streeting’s veiled criticism of Sir Keir’s approach comes after he last month denied seeking to replace the Labour leader in Downing Street.

The briefings against the Health Secretary were an apparent ploy to warn off potential leadership contenders, although Sir Keir said he was assured they did not emanate from No 10.

Mr Streeting, in an interview with The New Statesman published on Thursday, said: “It sort of came from the blue.

“I couldn’t understand what on Earth they were thinking. Putting to one side the attempted drive-by on me, I could not understand the political strategy of people who purport to be the Prime Minister’s allies going out and saying he’s fighting for his job.”

Without naming Sir Keir, he told the magazine Labour is at risk of presenting itself as the “maintenance department for the country”.

“The problem with that kind of practical, technocratic approach is that if someone else comes along and says, ‘Well, I’ve got a maintenance company too, and mine’s cheaper,’ why wouldn’t people go, ‘OK, well, we’ll give that maintenance team a try’?”

The Cabinet minister said he is “pretty frustrated” by the party’s predicament.

“I feel like on one hand, since we’ve come into government, we’ve actually done a huge amount that we said we’d do… But that’s not reflected in the polls, and I don’t think it’s even reflected in our storytelling. I think we sell ourselves short.”

Reflecting on Labour’s path to electoral success, Mr Streeting said it must communicate its values “so that people understand the choice that they face at the next general election”.

Framing the next election as a battle between Labour and Reform UK, Mr Streeting said: “We’re certainly not going to win by out-reforming Reform…

“We can take them on and beat them with values-driven Labour arguments. We can reunite the centre and the left, and I think that is the historic responsibility that we have.”

No 10 refused to be drawn on suggestions the Cabinet minister was criticising Sir Keir.

An official told reporters: “I think what the Health Secretary is setting out is that the public voted for change.

“That’s what they want to see delivered, and again, that is exactly what the Government is focused on doing.”

He also said: “The Government is united behind a manifesto of change.”

Another Downing Street spokesman added: “I think we’ve got a great story to tell, which we tell consistently, and it’s one of delivery.”