Highlights
- Streeting becomes first senior minister to quit Starmer government
- Andy Burnham seeks return to parliament amid Labour unrest
- Pressure grows on Starmer after local election losses
- Labour divisions deepen as leadership speculation intensifies
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer was facing growing pressure over his leadership after health secretary Wes Streeting resigned and senior Labour figures began positioning themselves for a possible leadership contest.
The developments followed heavy losses for the governing Labour Party in last week’s local elections, less than two years after Starmer led the party to a large general election victory on a pledge to bring stability after years of political turmoil.
Streeting became the first senior minister to quit the government, saying in a resignation letter that “it is now clear you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election”.
He accused Starmer of lacking direction and called for a wider debate about Labour’s future.
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“Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift,” Streeting wrote.
He also said the discussion about Labour’s future “needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates”.
A source close to Streeting said he had enough support to mount a formal challenge but had decided against immediately triggering a contest because he preferred Starmer to set out an orderly timetable for his departure.
Starmer replied in a letter expressing regret over Streeting’s resignation and said “it is incumbent on all of us to rise to what I see as a battle for the soul of our nation”.
“We must deliver on all of the promises we made to the country, including our promise to turn the page on the chaos that was roundly rejected by the British people at the last general election,” he added.
Starmer later appointed James Murray as Streeting’s replacement.
The prime minister has insisted he will fight to remain in office, while allies said he was determined to contest any leadership challenge.
The pound edged lower after Streeting’s resignation and reports that Andy Burnham would seek a return to parliament.
Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor and former cabinet minister, announced he would seek Labour’s nomination for a by-election in Makerfield after local MP Josh Simons said he would resign his seat.
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“I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for,” Simons said.
Burnham, who served as an MP from 2001 to 2017, said he wanted to return because “much bigger change is needed at a national level”.
“This is why I now seek people’s support to return to parliament,” he wrote on X.
He also said he wanted to “change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again”.
Burnham cannot challenge Starmer unless he returns to parliament, but he stopped short of formally announcing a leadership bid.
Another possible contender, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, said earlier on Thursday that tax authorities had cleared her of deliberate wrongdoing over her tax affairs.
Rayner, who resigned from government last September, did not say whether she intended to launch a leadership campaign.
Another name being discussed within Labour is armed forces minister Al Carns, a former Royal Marine viewed by some in the party as a possible new face.
Despite the pressure, Starmer retained support from parts of his cabinet. Education minister Bridget Phillipson publicly backed him and suggested senior ministers remained supportive.
“This is now a chance for us to pause and try to draw a line under all of this,” she said.
Finance minister Rachel Reeves also warned against plunging Britain into further instability at a time when the economy was beginning to improve after unexpected growth in March.
Business leaders meanwhile expressed concern over another possible leadership battle, which could result in Britain having its seventh prime minister in around a decade.
“There have been too many changes of government strategy, leadership, just in my six years of being CEO,” Amanda Blanc told Reuters.
“And I think that is harmful to a major economy such as the UK and how we are perceived abroad.”
Labour’s internal tensions have intensified in recent months following a series of political setbacks, including controversy surrounding the appointment and removal of former Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as the government’s US envoy.
The party also lost control of the Welsh parliament for the first time and failed to make gains against the Scottish National Party in Scotland.
Four junior ministers have resigned in recent days and scores of Labour MPs have urged Starmer to step down, although more than 100 lawmakers and several senior ministers have continued to back him.
The divisions have exposed growing tensions within Labour’s 403 MPs and raised the prospect of a leadership contest that could last months and distract the government from governing.
(With inputs from agencies)
