- Streeting calls for a “proper contest” to replace the prime minister.
- In his resignation letter, Streeting said he had “lost confidence” in Starmer.
- The expert describes Streeting's opposition as having “sharp political sense.”
Former British Health Minister Wes Streeting, until he resigned from his position earlier this week, has become the first MP to publicly confirm that he will run to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer as leader of the ruling Labor Party.
Widely recognized as one of the party's best communicators, the enthusiastic 43-year-old comes from a working-class background and from the right flank of the centre-left party.
A fixture on the airwaves during the 2024 general election, his profile has grown further as he leads the government department responsible for the beloved but beleaguered National Health Service (NHS) in England.
Rumors have circulated for months that he was considering a leadership challenge amid Starmer's protracted political struggles, earning him the scorn of some Labor colleagues who were unconvinced of the wisdom of a contest or Streeting's credentials.
In his resignation letter, Streeting said he had “lost confidence” in Starmer's leadership, arguing that he lacked vision and a sense of direction.
In a speech Saturday, he called for a “proper race” to replace the prime minister and announced “I will be a candidate,” although he had not yet formally started that race.
A polished, straight-talking media performer to his applause, a disloyal right-wing opportunist to his critics, the baby-faced politician increasingly divides opinion within Labor ranks, while his popularity nationally remains untested.
“He has a very keen political sense and communication skills,” said Steven Fielding, an expert on contemporary British politics at the University of Nottingham. AFP.
“But there are certain questions about his politics and how well they fit at least with the current situation of the Labor Party, and in terms of how different he might be from Keir Starmer.”
'Authentic working class'
Streeting's pro-market, anti-Brexit outlook and other centrist stances could prove problematic with Labor members charged with choosing a new leader, who automatically becomes prime minister since the party won the last election.
Born to teenage parents and raised on an east London council housing estate, Streeting frequently highlights his humble upbringing.
He has spoken of his maternal grandmother who gave birth in a London prison, while his grandfather was an armed robber who knew the notorious London gangsters, the Kray brothers.
“My family… is very, very far removed from the Westminster bubble,” he said in a podcast last year.
After attending a state-funded school and Cambridge University, he entered politics through the centrist think tank Progress, founded in the 1990s by allies of former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Elected MP to an east London seat in 2015, he criticized the party's leftward shift under then-leader Jeremy Corbyn and only entered the shadow cabinet once Starmer replaced Corbyn.
As health secretary, he has turned the tide of growing waiting lists for hospital appointments but has had a contentious relationship with some quarters, including striking young doctors.
“He's had the opportunity to be a great public service reformer and he hasn't really done that,” said a former senior Labor adviser. AFP.
However, public policy professor Patrick Diamond of Queen Mary, University of London, said Streeting “seems to offer much of what Labor currently lacks as a political party”.
He has “an authentic working-class background and the ability to connect with voters.”
'Unexpectedly fascinating'
Others point out that his approval ratings are not impressive. A YouGov tracker shows that he is disliked by 30% of respondents and popular by just 12%, putting him in 52nd place among British politicians.
Streeting is openly gay and Anglican, and told a Christian publication that “my faith made it very difficult to accept my sexuality.”
He is known in political circles as an extrovert, singing Robbie Williams' “Angels” at karaoke with the words “I'd rather Starmer” at a Labor Party conference.
Last September, he said the very idea of challenging Starmer was “disrespectful”.
“A lot of people are quite angry with him for what has happened in recent days,” the former Labor adviser said, accusing Streeting of an “over-enthusiasm” for power that “may be his undoing.”
“The problem with Wes is that he always seemed to love him too much,” he added.
Streeting wrote a memoir in 2023, “One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up,” which, according to a reviewer for The Guardian, “achieves the rare trick of being both slightly boring and unexpectedly fascinating.”
Critics say the fact that he wrote it before he was 40 shows his shameless ambition.
Streeting, meanwhile, has faced criticism over his long-standing links to Labor great Peter Mandelson, now a toxic figure removed as US ambassador for his association with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
He has denied being a close friend of Mandelson.
