Confronted by Wes Streeting’s ambitions, Keir Starmer and his team used to say they were relaxed about “tall poppies”. Unlike Gordon Brown, who steamrolled any perceived rival, they could live with an aspirant prime minister.
In times of trouble, such as on the eve of the welfare vote, it was Streeting who routinely defended the government in polished broadcast rounds. Tony Blair once called David Miliband the Wayne Rooney of his cabinet; Streeting, it seemed, occupied the same position in Starmer’s team. But last night, this peaceful co-existence was shattered.
In a series of co-ordinated briefings, No 10 declared that Starmer would fight any challenge to his leadership – I reported renewed threats on Monday – citing reports from MPs that Streeting had 50 frontbenchers prepared to stand down if the Budget went badly and the Prime Minister failed to resign.
The claim has prompted incredulity inside Labour; one previously loyal minister describes themselves as “filled with rage”. “There wasn’t a plot to smoke out, so they’ve just made themselves look unhinged,” another influential MP argues.
“No 10 has gone into full bunker mode, turning on its most loyal cabinet members for absolutely no reason,” a government source told me last night. “Unfortunately, there’s a pattern of Keir’s team briefing against his own people – they did it to Angela [Rayner], Lisa [Nandy], Lucy [Powell]; now it’s Wes’s turn. A circular firing squad won’t help the government out of the hole we’re in.”
MPs close to No 10 maintain that Downing Street had hard evidence of Streeting’s intentions and “needed to show they knew.” (A spokesperson for Streeting describes the claims as “categorically untrue”). Just as Starmer turned Andy Burnham’s manoeuvres to his advantage at Labour conference, some believe he can again rally the party around him.
But others remain bewildered by the intervention – coming on the evening before a morning media round by Streeting, which he used to declare that Starmer should sack those briefing against him, and just two weeks before the Budget.
Streeting’s activities, as Morning Call has long reported, have certainly attracted much attention in recent months. Whether calling for the UK to immediately recognise a Palestinian state back in June or denouncing claims that the far right is merely exercising “free speech”, he has been happy to go beyond the government line. His praise for New York mayor Zohran Mamdani (“lessons for progressives the world over”) also raised eyebrows and was seen as part of a conscious effort to woo the soft left.
But none of this, of course, amounts to active disloyalty – and here’s the question No 10 will have to answer today: if it has hard evidence that Streeting is plotting against Starmer, why is he still sitting in the cabinet?
The danger for Downing Street is clear: it has dramatically elevated the leadership question, giving every MP and journalist in the country a new excuse to pose it. Rather than shutting down speculation over Starmer’s future – as it managed in the aftermath of Labour conference – it has fuelled it. And far from uniting the party around the Prime Minister it risks only achieving the reverse.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here
[Further reading: Does Keir Starmer realise how much trouble he’s in?]
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