Wes Streeting walked away from the Government on Thursday with a blistering attack on Keir Starmer, ending 24 hours of speculation about his next move. The Health Secretary finally put the rumours to rest at lunchtime, submitting a 1,000-word resignation letter that trumpeted his own achievements but declared it 'would be dishonourable and unprincipled' to continue under Sir Keir's leadership.
Streeting's Criticism of Starmer
In his letter, Mr Streeting criticised the 'vacuum' and 'drift' at the top of Government, telling the Prime Minister it was clear he would not lead Labour into the next election. He pointed to Monday's 'reset' speech, which fell flat and only served to exasperate the party. He also took aim at Sir Keir's penchant for throwing others under the bus to save his own skin.
Mr Streeting blamed the 'unprecedented' local election results, which saw Labour lose 1,500 seats last week, in part on 'the unpopularity of this Government'. He added: 'There are many reasons we could point to: from individual mistakes on policy like the decision to cut the winter fuel allowance to the 'island of strangers' speech [by Sir Keir], all of which have left the country not knowing who we are or what we really stand for.'
He praised what he said were the PM's 'many great strengths' and 'courage and statesmanship on the world stage', but continued: 'Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift. This was underscored by your speech on Monday. Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords.'
'You also need to listen to your colleagues, including backbenchers, and the heavy-handed approach to dissenting voices diminishes our politics,' he added.
Leadership Bid or Lack of Support?
After he failed to launch a leadership bid, instead urging Sir Keir to allow the 'best possible field of candidates' to run, there were differing views on whether Mr Streeting simply fell short of the 81 nominations from Labour MPs necessary to spark a challenge. While his allies insist he 'absolutely' had enough support, one Labour backbencher said the letter 'reads like he has no numbers,' adding: 'He's screwed himself good and proper.'
Another senior party source said: 'He's blown himself up.' Skills minister Baroness [Jacqui] Smith told the BBC she was 'very sorry' Mr Streeting had resigned but 'we don't need a period of internal discussion and a leadership contest'. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, meanwhile, said that she 'fundamentally disagreed' with his points and urged his departure to be seen as chance for Labour to 'pause, take a breath as a party and try and draw a line under all of this'.
Meeting and Aftermath
The Prime Minister and Mr Streeting met in No 10 on Wednesday morning with a view to ironing out their differences following the election bloodbath. But a stony-faced Mr Streeting emerged just 16 minutes later and allies were soon briefing he would resign. The MP for Ilford North alluded to what was said in the room in his letter.
He championed improvements in NHS waiting times as one reason to 'remain in post, but as you know from our conversation earlier this week, having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to do so'. On Wednesday, Sir Keir wrote back to thank him for his service, saying it was 'incumbent on all of us to rise to what I see as a battle for the soul of our nation'.
Mr Streeting's was the first departure from the Cabinet, after the resignations of four junior ministers.
