Pressure is quickly building on Keir Starmer as he battles to remain in 10 Downing Street.
Wes Streeting has been accused of orchestrating a leadership coup against Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer amid a furious civil war within the Labour Party. The Health Secretary has reportedly been a crucial player in using the chaos surrounding Number 10 in recent days as an opportunity to oust Mr Starmer from the top job. Mr Streeting discussed the current political situation with Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar days before he publicly called for the Prime Minister to step down and demanded a “change in leadership” at Downing Street on Monday, The Telegraph reports.
It came after Mr Streeting voluntarily published private messages with disgraced peer Peter Mandelson dating back to 2024, revealing his opinions that the Government had “no growth strategy” and would be “toast at the next election”. A Labour source said: “Today’s events were so clearly manipulated and co-ordinated by the Wes Streeting campaign, but they catastrophically failed when [Mr Starmer] bottled it [by not resigning too].”
A spokesperson for the Health Secretary said: “Wes did not ask Anas to do this; he did not coordinate with Anas on this. Anas is the leader of the Scottish Labour party; he is his own man, and Wes has the highest respect for him.
“At the same time as Wes was in an interview saying that Keir needed a chance to set out his case and his plan, No 10 was briefing that Wes had told Anas Sarwar to make his statement. That is the problem.”
Mr Streeting was among the cabinet ministers who publicly pledged support for the Prime Minister after Mr Sarwar sensationally called for him to quit in a speech where he also condemned “failures at the heart of Downing Street”.
The Health Secretary told Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast that he didn’t think the Prime Minister should resign and urged his fellow MPs to give Mr Starmer a chance.
Other potential challengers to the Labour leadership including former deputy PM Angela Rayner also issued messages of solidarity with Mr Starmer after the public call for his resignation.
Ms Rayner said: “I urge all my colleagues to come together, remember our values and put them into practice as a team. The Prime Minister has my full support in leading us to that end.”
