Wes Streeting ‘preparing to resign’ on Thursday after talks with PM

Wes Streeting met Sir Keir Starmer for crunch talks that lasted less than 20 minutes this morning as the Health Secretary looks set to resign and trigger a leadership contest.

The Cabinet minister, who confronted the Prime Minister in Downing Street over the crisis engulfing Labour before the King’s Speech on Wednesday, is believed to have told allies he is preparing to quit Government.

Sir Keir managed to cling on to power and see off an immediate threat to his leadership on Tuesday despite four ministers, some of whom are close to Mr Streeting, resigning and at least 80 MPs demanding he stand down.

The Labour Party has descended into open division over his future, with more than 100 other MPs signing a statement backing him and warning “this is no time for a leadership contest”.

Following his meeting with the Prime Minister this morning, the Health Secretary ignored reporters shouting questions at him as he made his way out of Number 10.

Mr Streeting’s team failed to deny the report and the minister posted on X on Wednesday as if business were carrying on as usual, talking up the Government’s record on the NHS and saying nothing of the turmoil within the party.

Unlike other senior ministers, he did not take to social media to reiterate his support for the Prime Minister on Tuesday, nor did he stop to voice his backing for Sir Keir as he left the weekly Cabinet meeting that morning.

During the meeting in Downing Street, the Prime Minister dug in and told Cabinet there was a process for challenging a leader which had not been triggered.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy also questioned whether rivals had secured the backing of the 81 MPs needed to launch a contest.

But on Wednesday morning, unions pulled their support, saying it is clear that Sir Keir will not lead Labour into the next election.

After the King’s Speech, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn gave Sir Keir full-throated backing and urged colleagues to “think about what really matters for the future of the country”.

Asked about Mr Streeting’s apparent plan, Mr Benn told Sky News: “My view is very clear, I think we should rally behind the Prime Minister.

“We should let him get on with doing his job, because he is a serious politician and these are very, very serious times.”

He added: “I don’t think, in my view, this is the moment for a leadership challenge. I think we should back the Prime Minister and I will remain of that view.”

Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told broadcasters earlier that the week so far had been “turbulent” for the Prime Minister but insisted “we are moving on”.

He insisted Sir Keir and Mr Streeting were “having a coffee” and dismissed that it was a showdown over Sir Keir’s leadership.

“Anyone would think we were talking about the final scene at a Casino Royale or something, looking at some of the coverage that we’ve had,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He earlier told BBC Breakfast: “There is no contest for the leadership of the Labour Party.

“There’s a very clear way to do that under our rules of 81 people nominating an alternative candidate. That hasn’t happened.

“The contest hasn’t been triggered. We are moving on. I’m not saying yesterday wasn’t turbulent. It evidently was, but we are moving, getting on with delivery.”

The Government is seeking to carry on as usual by setting out its legislative agenda for the coming parliamentary session in the King’s Speech on Wednesday.

The SNP has said it will seek to force a vote on Sir Keir Starmer’s future in an amendment to the King’s Speech.

New SNP Westminster leader Dave Doogan said: “If the Labour Cabinet ministers don’t have the decency to do the right thing – then Parliament must.

“Unless they put an end to this chaos now, the SNP will table a motion of no confidence in Keir Starmer to draw things to a close.”

Meanwhile, UK long-term borrowing costs eased back after reaching a 28-year high on Tuesday as Sir Keir continues to defy calls to stand down.

However, Labour’s affiliated unions have called for a plan to be put in place for the election of a new leader of the Labour Party.

A statement from the Tulo group, which represents 11 unions, said Labour “cannot continue on its current path”.

The unions, including Unite, Unison and the GMB, said: “It’s clear that the Prime Minister will not lead Labour into the next election, and at some stage a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader.”

Mr Streeting is among several Labour figures said to have ambitions to succeed Sir Keir, but has reportedly backed down from launching an immediate leadership bid.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, a leading figure from the soft left of the party widely seen as a contender, would first need an MP willing to stand aside so he could fight a by-election and chart a path back to Parliament.

Sources close to Energy Secretary Ed Miliband have denied reports that he is preparing to run if Mr Streeting triggers a contest.

The Prime Minister, meanwhile, has sought to push on, already having replaced four ministers – including prominent MP Jess Phillips and health minister Zubir Ahmed, an ally of Mr Streeting – who quit the Government and called for Sir Keir to stand down.

Glasgow South West MP Mr Ahmed said the situation was “unsustainable” and said it was “telling” that the whole Cabinet had not articulated support for the Prime Minister in the “full-throated way” they had previously.

“I think people who are articulating their dissatisfaction with the Prime Minister in private, they do have a responsibility to say that in public and directly to him, because this situation is unsustainable. It is now unstable and I think, therefore, we do need an expedient and orderly transition,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.