Wes Streeting has resigned as Health Secretary after saying he had lost confidence in Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership, prompting a response from the Prime Minister that Labour must focus on delivering the promises it made to voters.
Wes Streeting has resigned as Health Secretary, deepening the political pressure on Sir Keir Starmer and calling for a broad Labour leadership contest after a period of mounting internal unrest within the governing party.
In his resignation letter, Streeting said he had lost confidence in the Prime Minister’s leadership and concluded that it would be “dishonourable and unprincipled” to remain in Government. He argued that Labour now needed a debate about its future direction and said any leadership process should include the “best possible field of candidates”.
Streeting’s departure makes him the most senior Cabinet figure to break publicly with Starmer. His letter criticised the Prime Minister’s political direction, stating that “where we need vision, we have a vacuum” and “where we need direction, we have drift”. The intervention followed poor local election results and growing concern among Labour MPs over the party’s position before the next general election.
The former Health Secretary also said it was now clear that Starmer would not lead Labour into the next general election. He wrote that Labour MPs and affiliated unions wanted the debate about the party’s future to be “a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism”. According to Reuters, Streeting urged Starmer to facilitate a broad contest, but did not formally launch an immediate leadership challenge.
Starmer responded to Streeting’s resignation, saying he was “very sorry” that the Health Secretary had stepped down from Government. In his reply, the Prime Minister thanked Streeting for his work in helping Labour return to office and for what he had achieved at the Department of Health and Social Care.
“We have worked together for many years and I want to thank you for all your hard work in helping to get us back into Government and for all that you have achieved as Health Secretary,” Starmer wrote. He added that Labour must “deliver on all of the promises we made to the country”.
Streeting also referred to his work on the NHS, including efforts to reduce waiting lists and improve performance. Recent NHS figures remain a central measure of the Government’s domestic record, with waiting times, staffing pressures and public confidence in health services still among Labour’s most difficult policy tests.
His resignation creates an immediate vacancy at the Department of Health and Social Care. It also removes from Cabinet one of Labour’s most prominent media performers and one of the ministers most frequently discussed as a possible future party leader.
The wider political impact is likely to extend beyond health policy. Streeting’s departure follows earlier resignations and public criticism from Labour figures who have urged Starmer either to stand down or set out a timetable for departure. The Guardian reported that the letter was intended both as a criticism of Starmer’s leadership and as a call for a wider contest over Labour’s future direction.
A formal leadership contest has not yet begun. Under Labour rules, any challenger would require sufficient parliamentary support before a contest could proceed. Streeting’s decision not to announce an immediate challenge leaves Labour MPs to decide whether to rally behind Starmer, support a direct challenge, or press for a managed transition.
Possible names discussed in connection with any future contest include Streeting, Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. Burnham would first need to return to the House of Commons before he could stand for the Labour leadership.
For Starmer, the immediate issue is whether he can demonstrate that he retains sufficient support inside the Parliamentary Labour Party to continue as Prime Minister. For Streeting, resignation places him outside Government but at the centre of the debate over Labour’s future.
