From primary school prison visits to the cusp of No 10, Wes Streeting's rise has been anything but orthodox. His grandfather was an armed robber, his grandmother shared a cell with Christine Keeler, and he was raised in a council flat in the East End. Now, the health secretary finds himself as the frontrunner in the race to succeed Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader.
A Controversial Figure
As Starmer's grip on power weakens, Streeting has emerged as a prominent potential successor. However, the 43-year-old MP for Ilford North is not universally popular within his party. Research by Queen Mary University of London found that 48% of Labour members consider themselves fairly left-wing, while only 11% would back Streeting to succeed Starmer, compared to 42% for Andy Burnham.
Streeting has been criticised as too right-wing, having opposed Jeremy Corbyn and rejected the Blairite label despite his ties to Peter Mandelson and his work for Progress, the New Labour pressure group.
Unconventional Background
Streeting's family history is far from typical for a Westminster politician. His maternal grandfather Bill Crowley was a career criminal known to the Krays, whom Streeting visited in prison while at primary school. Crowley wore a grotesque rubber mask named Claude during armed robberies. Streeting's mother Corinna may have been born in prison, and his grandmother Libby Crowley served time in HMP Holloway, sharing a cell with Christine Keeler of the Profumo Scandal.
Streeting has credited his paternal grandfather, a former merchant seaman and working-class Tory, for shaping his views on law and order and his Christian faith.
From Council Flat to Cambridge
Born in 1983 to teenage parents who later separated, Streeting grew up in a council flat in London's East End. He described himself as a sensitive, effeminate child who survived rather than thrived at school. With encouragement from teachers, he attended a Sutton Trust summer school at Cambridge University, later winning a place to read history at Selwyn College in 2001. He came out as gay in his second year, describing the experience as liberating at university but terrifying at home.
Political Rise
Streeting became president of the National Union of Students, serving two terms from 2008 to 2010, and backed Labour's university fees policy. He later worked for the Helena Kennedy Foundation, Stonewall, and PricewaterhouseCoopers before entering local politics as a Labour councillor in 2010. He became an MP in 2015.
He refused to serve on Corbyn's frontbench, citing concerns over antisemitism, bullying, and Corbyn's response to the Salisbury attack. Instead, he made his name on the Treasury committee and was rewarded by Starmer with a shadow role. After being diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2021, he temporarily stepped back but returned as shadow health secretary.
Controversial Stances
As health secretary, Streeting has advocated for greater private involvement in the NHS to cut waiting lists, insisting he opposes privatisation. He sparked controversy by saying GPs were claiming money for old rope during the Covid vaccination drive. He also made headlines for his blunt comments on transgender rights, stating men have penises and women have vaginas, while calling for respectful debate.
Streeting has urged the NHS to stop doing daft things in the name of diversity and inclusion, arguing that pragmatic approaches are popular with swing voters.
Leadership Ambitions
With Labour's local election defeat sending shockwaves through the party, Streeting may see his chance. However, he lacks broad support among Labour members. As Starmer's popularity plummets, Streeting could emerge as the most ideologically aligned heir to No 10, but whether he can scrape together enough support remains to be seen.
