It’s been confirmed: Wes Streeting plans to run for the Labor leadership. After weeks of speculation, speaking at the Progress conference in central London today, Streeting confirmed he would run in any future leadership contest and said there must be a “battle of ideas” within the Labor party. As the first out of the blocks to confirm his position, he now has months in which to set up his stall.
This has been an important week for Streeting. On Thursday, he resigned from his post as Health Secretary, calling on Keir Starmer to set a timetable for an orderly transition. Speculation mounted that Streeting himself could launch a run if he had the support of 81 MPs. But no challenge came. Instead, the former health secretary called for a proper leadership contest in which a range of candidates should be allowed to compete. He backed Andy Burnham – now his main rival to replace Starmer – to be allowed to stand for selection as Labor candidate in the next Makerfield by-election. In his speech today, Streeting explained his reasoning, telling attendees there should be “a proper race where all candidates can put their best foot forward.”
Progress is the people of Streeting. The think tank, which was founded thirty years ago, is the home of the party’s right wing, in which many of Streeting’s allies can be found. But not everyone is happy with the recent events. Some participants, some of them former councilors who had lost their seats in last week’s local elections, were furious with the government for collapsing in leadership wrangles after a landslide defeat.
Addressing the conference earlier in the day, Peter Kyle – the Business and Trade Secretary – who is a close friend of Streeting’s, urged caution. He described Streeting as “legendary” although he did not confirm he would support him in any leadership race. “Too often in the past,” said Kyle, “the Labor Party has chosen a moment of difficulty to talk between us.” Speaking to me at the conference, a Labor source said after this week’s events the right wing of the party was “tearing itself apart”.
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But Streeting was not deterred. He used the speech as an opportunity to distance himself from the outgoing government, with a scathing assessment of Starmer’s leadership, including the party’s time in opposition. He described the recent Labor leadership contest – in which Starmer was elected – as “dishonest”, followed by “overzealousness in the opposition”. Streeting added: “Interesting policy ideas couldn’t be shared because we were too afraid of what the Tories might say, so we didn’t say anything.” He was critical of the use of whipping suspensions to punish Labor rebels and described the cut to the winter fuel payment as a “disaster”. Streeting clearly hoped to distance himself from the Starmer administration with the comments and perhaps appeal to his critics on the left of the party.
The rest of Streeting’s speech was a clear leadership pitch. Labor under Streeting would rejoin the European Union, confront English nationalism on the right and anti-Semitism on the left, and take a firm hold on the centre. Most importantly, he said the party, under his leadership, would forge a new “special relationship” with Europe and use its upcoming manifesto to seek a new mandate to rejoin the EU.
He warned those within the Labor Party who have claimed that, to do well in the next general election, the party must turn right or left. “My warning to the party is not to be put off by the voices of the sirens saying to win the general election we have to try Reform Reform or throw out the Greens,” he said. “We will win the next general election by being Labour.”
Streeting’s allies were in power. He was introduced by Rosie Wrighting, MP for Kettering, who said: “I believe in Wes, who more than anyone else, is the person who makes me feel hope for our future,” And following his speech, Streeting’s supporters were buzzing. Speaking to me shortly afterwards, a Labor MP said: “Can you imagine a world in which the Prime Minister made that speech? There was nothing stopping him from making a speech like that on Monday.” They said after his performance today, they were confident Streeting would have the numbers.
There is still a long way to go. Burnham, who was yesterday given permission by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee to run for selection as Labour’s candidate in Makerfield, must now fight and win a by-election on June 18 to enter the race. Streeting grandly said he would campaign for Burnham, adding: “I honestly think if anyone can win that by-election, it’s Andy Burnham… I’ll be proud to campaign for Andy Burnham.” But it brings about a strange set of circumstances in which Streeting will support the return to parliament of his main rival, who as things stand looks more likely to win the support of the membership in a leadership contest.
If anything, Streeting’s biggest gain today is that it has ended the speculation. We know now: he’s running. Instead, he can use the coming months – as Starmer clings to his premiership and Burnham struggles to win Makerfield against newly galvanized reform – to set out a vision for Labor under Wes Streeting.
(Further reading: Can Andy Burnham win at Makerfield?)
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