Streeting quits as Starmer fights for survival amid Labour mutiny
Sir Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life as Labour’s most dramatic week in office descended into open mutiny, with Wes Streeting walking out of Cabinet, almost 90 MPs urging the prime minister to set out an exit date, and Andy Burnham clearing his path back to Westminster in an apparent bid for the leadership.
The crisis deepened sharply on Thursday afternoon when Mr Streeting tendered his resignation as Health Secretary, telling the prime minister bluntly that he had “lost confidence” in his leadership. In a letter to Sir Keir released minutes after their meeting in Downing Street, the Ilford North MP wrote: “Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift.”
Although stopping short of formally launching a leadership bid, Mr Streeting used his resignation letter to call for a “debate about what comes next,” declaring that “it is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election.” Allies of the former health secretary told reporters they believed he had already secured the backing of the 81 Labour MPs needed to trigger a contest.
Sir Keir moved swiftly to plug the hole at the Department of Health and Social Care, promoting the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray, to take over the brief. In a tribute to his former cabinet colleague, the prime minister said he had “no doubt” that Mr Streeting would “continue to play an important role in our party for many years to come.”
Within hours of Mr Streeting’s departure, an even more provocative move unfolded in Greater Manchester. According to ITV News, the Labour MP for Makerfield, Josh Simons, announced he was standing down in order to trigger a by-election that would clear a route into Parliament for the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham. Mr Simons described Mr Burnham as a figure who could “drive the change our country is crying out for”.
Mr Burnham confirmed he was formally seeking the permission of Labour’s National Executive Committee to stand in the seat. The mayor had previously been blocked by the NEC from contesting a by-election in Gorton and Denton in February, but ITV News understands Downing Street will not seek to obstruct his candidacy this time. Mr Burnham said a “much bigger change was needed at a national level,” language widely interpreted in Westminster as an unmistakable shot at the prime minister.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage greeted the news on X with relish, writing: “We look forward to the Makerfield by-election. Reform will throw absolutely everything at it.” Labour holds the seat with a majority of just over 5,000 — a far from comfortable cushion in the current political climate.
The drama capped a series of resignations that began earlier in the week. Four junior ministers — Jess Phillips, Zubir Ahmed, Alex Davies-Jones and Miatta Fahnbulleh — quit the government, while six ministerial aides resigned on Monday and have since been replaced. By Thursday evening, the running tally stood at nearly 90 Labour MPs publicly demanding that the prime minister either resign immediately or publish a timetable for his departure.
Among those calling for clarity is the Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash. “The call for a broad contest with the best possible field of candidates is absolutely right from Wes Streeting,” he posted on X. “The prime minister should now do the right thing for the country and set a timetable.”
Sir Keir, however, retains a substantial bloc of loyalists. More than 150 Labour MPs have rallied to his defence, urging colleagues to step back from what one described privately as the brink of self-destruction. Cabinet members closed ranks. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said Sir Keir had “cabinet behind him” and urged the party to “pause, take a breath as a party and try and draw a line under all of this.” Chancellor Rachel Reeves echoed the prime minister’s own warning that a leadership contest would “plunge the country into chaos.”
The unrest follows what the prime minister’s own MPs have privately described as a catastrophic round of elections. Labour lost almost 1,500 councillors in England last week, was kicked out of power in Wales for the first time since devolution in 1999, and slumped to its worst ever result in a Scottish Parliament contest. Wales saw Plaid Cymru emerge as the largest party in the Senedd, while First Minister Eluned Morgan stood down after losing her own seat — events that have been widely interpreted at Westminster as a referendum on Sir Keir’s leadership rather than on Welsh Labour alone.
The mood among MPs has been further inflamed by the row over Sir Keir’s decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington. Lord Mandelson’s elevation, made earlier this year, has been blamed in some quarters for crystallising doubts about the prime minister’s political judgement at a moment when his backbenchers were already restive over welfare cuts and the winter fuel allowance.
If a contest does open up, the picture remains fluid. Mr Streeting is now widely seen as the most likely standard-bearer of the party’s centre-right, while former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner — cleared on Thursday by HMRC of any wrongdoing over her tax affairs — would represent its soft-left wing. Mr Burnham, were he to win the Makerfield by-election, would join the field as a heavyweight challenger from outside Westminster, although his path is the longest of the three.
Among those quick to dismiss the emerging field was Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who said a Streeting premiership would amount to “more of the same, but even worse,” labelling the ex-health secretary “a factional and divisive politician” and pointing to his association with Lord Mandelson. “If Labour thinks Wes Streeting is the answer,” Mr Polanski said, “they obviously don’t know the question the country is asking.”
The week began with cabinet ministers, reportedly including Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, urging Sir Keir to set out a timetable for his departure. It is now ending with the prime minister facing the most serious challenge to his authority since he entered Downing Street, and with no formal leadership bid yet lodged.
Welsh first minister loses seat as Labour faces historic wipeout
The next move belongs to Sir Keir. His allies maintain he will not buckle. As one cabinet ally put it on Thursday evening, the prime minister will “fight from the front” — but with the resignations now mounting and a popular alternative manoeuvring to enter the Commons, the question being asked across Westminster is no longer whether his authority will hold, but how long it can.
