Victoria Starmer: Streeting could resign, launch challenge by Thursday
Wes Streeting met Keir Starmer at No 10 on Tuesday morning for a meeting that lasted less than 20 minutes, as allies said he was preparing to quit as health secretary. victoria starmer now turns on whether he can gather enough support to make a leadership challenge real, with a source close to him saying he could move as early as Thursday.
Downing Street insiders said Streeting still did not have the backing of the 81 MPs needed to formally launch a bid. A source close to him told that he was planning to resign on Thursday and launch a leadership bid, while describing the idea that Starmer had seen off a putsch as "laughable".
No 10 meeting with Starmer
Starmer held a 16-minute meeting with Streeting amid a leadership crisis. The timing mattered because it came after Streeting was told to make his position clear by his allies' account, and before any public move from him. Streeting has remained health secretary while the private pressure has built around whether he will actually leave the post and force a contest.
Two MPs said they were called by allies of Streeting on Tuesday evening and told, "He’s going for it." One of them said they were unsure whether he had enough backing to follow through. A second MP close to the Streeting camp said they had been involved in discussions about getting the numbers needed to trigger a contest.
Labour numbers at 81 MPs
A leadership challenge would need support from 81 MPs before it could be formally launched. That threshold is the immediate barrier in front of Streeting, not the public case for or against him. Until those names are on the line, the challenge remains a plan rather than a move.
Streeting has also been publicly backing the government line. On social media, he wrote: "Under Labour, NHS waiting lists are falling, ambulances are arriving faster, there are more GPs, and higher patient satisfaction." He added: "The Health Bill will boost the impact of our investment and modernisation: cutting bureaucracy to invest in patient care."
Starmer's cabinet ultimatum
Starmer has put long-promised changes to education, health and the courts at the heart of his agenda for the next year, and he has issued a "put up or shut up" ultimatum to his cabinet. That leaves Streeting in a difficult position: he is still speaking as a cabinet minister while allies say he is weighing whether to step out and challenge the prime minister.
If Streeting does resign, the question shifts from private briefing to parliamentary arithmetic. His next move depends on whether the MPs around him move from talk to signatures, because without 81 names there is no formal leadership bid to launch.
