Streeting’s ambition to head the British government had long been an open secret, but his formal announcement on Saturday ended weeks of speculation about a leadership challenge. The former health secretary, who resigned from the Cabinet on Thursday, said he had lost confidence in Starmer and sharply criticized the prime minister for lacking vision and direction. “We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I’ll be standing,” Streeting said.
The challenge comes after Labour’s disastrous performance in the May 7 local and regional elections, where Farage’s Reform UK made huge gains. Starmer has faced calls to resign but has vowed to fight on. Streeting framed the contest as a matter of survival for the party and the country: “The voters did more than send Labour a message last week. They issued a warning: that unless we change course, we risk being the handmaidens of Nigel Farage and the breakup of the United Kingdom.”
Streetling, 43, is widely regarded as one of Labour’s best communicators. He rose from London’s working-class East End — he grew up in public housing and credits one grandfather with leading him to Cambridge University — to become president of the National Union of Students and later a Labour MP in 2015. He served as health secretary after Starmer took over the party leadership in 2020, making fixing the ailing National Health Service a personal mission after his own kidney cancer. On the day he resigned, he touted a fifth straight monthly drop in waiting lines for medical appointments.
The leadership struggle plays out against a backdrop of internal party chaos. Starmer’s government has been battered by policy U-turns and his controversial appointment — and later sacking — of Peter Mandelson as U.S. ambassador. Mandelson’s friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continues to haunt Starmer. Streeting, who had been friendly with Mandelson, preemptively released email exchanges earlier this year to show they were not close; in one, he criticized Starmer’s leadership by writing “there isn’t a clear answer to the question: why Labour?”
Streeting is likely to face other challengers. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is expected to run if he can win a special election for a seat in the House of Commons in the coming weeks. The contest is expected to be bruising, with the party’s direction and the fate of the United Kingdom at stake. Streeting said he will begin laying out his vision in the coming weeks.