As Andy Burnham fights the Makerfield by-election, Wes Streeting is starting to fight Labour’s shadow leadership race. The former health secretary, who resigned last week, has long been tipped as a front-runner to replace Keir Starmer. Streeting has now revealed that, during the 16 minutes he spent in Downing Street before his resignation last week, he informed the prime minister of his intention to stay, describing the government as one that “lacks definition, direction and vision”.
After telling Starmer about his plans privately, Streeting went public on Saturday with one of Westminster’s best-kept secrets. In a speech at the Progress conference, he announced that he plans to put himself forward in any future Labor leadership contest. Since no official challenge has yet been mounted against Starmer’s leadership, an official contest has not been called – yet.
With snap elections looming in the North West, the former health secretary now has about six weeks to make his case. He has begun to do so. As an ally said Ailbhe Rea this weeknow that he’s out of government, “Wes can say what he really thinks. Now he’s free to express his vision.” This began at the Progress conference, where Streeting also called for the UK to rejoin the European Union and warned of the growing threat posed by Reform.
So he continued in his resignation speech in Commons yesterdayin which Streeting told MPs: “I quit the government because we are in the fight of our lives against nationalism and it is a fight we are currently losing.” Surrounded by one praetorian guard of allies – including Jess Phillips, Zubir Ahmed and Rosie Wrighting, who all resigned from their government posts last week – Streeting warned that, if Labor did not change course, it risked handing No 10 the keys to reform. “I don’t want that on our conscience,” he said.
And today, he is beginning to see what politics might look like under a Streeting-led Labor government, opening the “battle of ideas” within the Labor Party that he called for on Saturday. Talking to Nick Robinson’s Political Thought podcastStreeting proposed introducing a “working wealth tax” equating capital gains tax with income tax. He also proposed closing the loophole through which some people make employment income appear to be capital gain. Lower capital gains tax rates, however, would still be offered to “protect genuine entrepreneurs” and encourage long-term investment.
Streeting’s allies have repeatedly made clear he has the support of the 81 MPs needed to enter the Labor leadership vote. But if that’s the case, why didn’t he challenge Starmer last week? Streeting told the BBC that, days before he resigned, he had decided not to mount a challenge until Burnham had found somewhere to run for parliament.
“It was clear that if we had been thrown directly into a leadership contest by me – or, for that matter, by anyone else – I think it would have been seen as a deliberate attempt to get ahead of the potential return of Andy Burnham,” he said.
What happens if Burnham enters parliament? If the polls are to be believed, then the former health secretary would lose badly to the mayor of Manchester. The last one shows a survey by YouGov Burnham won 80 percent of members to Streeting’s 10 percent in a straight head-to-head race (with those who answered “don’t know” or “wouldn’t vote” making up the remaining 10 percent).
like Ailbhe writes this weekboth men spoke late in the day on May 14. Streeting gave Burnham his full support at Makerfield, something he has publicly reiterated ever since. But a Labor victory in Makerfield could present a tough road ahead for Streeting’s leadership bid.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; get it every morning by subscribing to Substack here
(Further reading: Keir Starmer is a dishonest man)
