Starmer rival Streeting quits, setting up UK leadership bid

Alex Wickham, Ellen Milligan and Joe Mayes, Bloomberg News on May 14, 2026

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Wes Streeting resigned as Keir Starmer’s health secretary, paving the way for him to challenge the U.K. prime minister for his job.

“It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour Unions want the debate about what comes next,” Streeting said in a letter to Starmer that he published on X.

Instead of immediately launching a leadership bid, Streeting publicly urged Starmer to “facilitate” a contest, adding that he wanted to see “the best possible field of candidates” in competition to replace the prime minister. While a person familiar with Streeting’s thinking said he doesn’t plan to trigger a formal challenge on Thursday, they didn’t rule out his doing so in the coming days.

Streeting’s departure raises the prospect of a imminent leadership contest, where Starmer will have to fend off rivals like the 43-year-old member of parliament for Ilford North plus other potential contenders. Starmer is fighting to stay prime minister after almost a quarter of his Labour Party publicly called for him to resign in the wake of disastrous local election results a week ago.

“There is no doubt that the unpopularity of this Government was a major and common factor in our defeats across England, Scotland and Wales,” Streeting said in his letter. “Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift.”

U.K. 30-year bond yields, which are more sensitive to fiscal and political risks than shorter-dated debt, briefly pared declines. They were around five basis points lower 5.67% by 1.55 p.m. in London.

Streeting is only one of the party figures likely to throw their hats into the ring in the event of a formal leadership competition. Former deputy premier Angela Rayner said Thursday morning that she had been cleared of wrongdoing in an investigation into her tax affairs, while there is a sizable faction on the party’s left working to secure a parliamentary seat for Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who can’t run without one.

Burnham is the only senior U.K. politician to poll positively among voters, denting Streeting’s chances if he were to run against him. While Streeting’s letter implied he’d want to see Burnham among the candidates, his allies have been less guarded and publicly called for the swift race that could prevent Burnham from entering Parliament in time.

Streeting may be simultaneously attempting to avoid backlash within the party by publicly pushing for a timetable that would benefit the popular Manchester mayor, while privately holding faith that the party’s executive body — which is composed mainly of Starmer allies — would block Burnham. Polling shows it’s also in the prime minister’s interests that Burnham doesn’t stand.

“If a contest started right now, I just don’t see how it’s physically possible for Andy Burnham to participate in that,” Luke Akehurst, a member of Labour’s decision making body, told Sky News. “I don’t think the Labour Party’s rules and procedures are there to be tweaked, to suit one particular person” said the MP, who remains loyal to Starmer but sits on Streeting’s right wing of the party.

All week Starmer has resisted calls to set out a timetable for his departure. If he doesn’t trigger a leadership race himself, a challenger would have to be nominated by 20% of Labour Members of Parliament. The party currently has 403 MPs, putting that threshold at 81. The ensuing contest would be decided by preferential votes from Labour Party members and affiliates, with precise voting eligibility set by Labour’s governing body.

Streeting had a remarkable public falling out with Starmer in November, when allies of the premier accused the Cabinet member of plotting a leadership bid. He hit back by giving interviews to broadcasters denying the allegations and demanding Starmer fire anyone found responsible for the briefings.

Those skirmishes continued into the new year. Speaking in mid-January, Streeting appeared to criticize Starmer for making a series of policy U-turns, saying Labour should resolve to “try and get it right first time” in 2026.

Streeting is seen as an effective communicator and public speaker, by contrast with Starmer, who has been criticized for lacking a convincing political narrative in the wake of May 7’s elections. Streeting has also overseen a decline in patients waiting for non-urgent treatments — one of the key promises the government made at the election.

The now former health secretary hails from the political right of Labour, following in the tradition of grandees like former Prime Minister Tony Blair and disgraced former Ambassador to the U.S. Peter Mandelson.

He’s sought to distance himself from Mandelson since controversy over his appointment engulfed the government, and has in recent months appeared to seek favor with the left of the party by making a series of interventions on issues such as the conflict in Gaza.

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—With assistance from Jacob Reid and James Hirai.