UK prime minister and Labour leader Keir Starmer is set for crunch talks with health secretary Wes Streeting, who appears poised to challenge him.
Streeting, whose allies in Labour’s parliamentary party have spent days calling on Starmer to step down, is expected to meet Starmer in Downing Street on Wednesday morning in advance of a planned speech to parliament by King Charles.
The health secretary, as first revealed on Tuesday night by The Times, will confront Starmer about how he plans to get Britain out of the “mess” enveloping its politics. It is unclear whether Streeting will resign from his post, or ask Starmer to quit.
Westminster has been consumed by days of melodrama after Labour MPs began calling for Starmer to go following the party’s hammering in elections across Britain last week. At last count on Tuesday evening, close to 90 Labour MPs had called on the prime minister to quit or set a timetable for his departure.
RM Block
This was followed on Tuesday by the resignation from government of at least four junior ministers, including allies of Streeting, such as former junior health minister Zubir Ahmed, as well as backers of another leadership contender, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. He will be prevented from running, however, unless he can delay any potential leadership contest and secure a return to parliament via a byelection.
The first minister to quit on Tuesday was former housing minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, who later threw her support behind Burnham: “[Starmer] needs to set a proper process and we need our best players available. Keir has to do right by the country and see us through that process.”
Perhaps the most eye-catching resignation so far, however, was Jess Phillips, a prominent member of the soft left of the party who was a minister for violence against women and girls. She told Starmer in her resignation letter that he was a “good man” but not up to the job, and Britain needed “deeds not words”.
The UK prime minister has refused to quit, and has instead in effect dared his rivals to formally challenge him: “The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered. The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a cabinet.”
Allies of Starmer organised a letter of backing signed by at least 111 Labour MPs. There was also a co-ordinated show of support from some cabinet members, with statements from business secretary Peter Kyle, work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden, and deputy prime minister David Lammy.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, Starmer hosted his cabinet for its weekly meeting at Downing Street, where arriving ministers were met with a media frenzy. It had been expected the meeting would unveil the splits that are believed to exist within Starmer’s cabinet over his future. Home secretary Shabana Mahmood, for example, is believed to have already told Starmer he needs to go.
It was reported, however, that Starmer shut down all opposition to him at the cabinet meeting by refusing to allow any dissenters to speak about his future and rejecting meetings with them afterwards.
His expected showdown with Streeting on Wednesday will be the first time he has sat down one-on-one with his presumed would-be replacement since this latest crisis of his leadership began.
Meanwhile, Burnham was spotted in London on Tuesday getting off a train from Manchester. It is believed he met with Labour MPs to seek their backing. The Irish Times understands he does not want to show his hand on a byelection option until Starmer concedes defeat, which the prime minister has said he will not do.
Hostilities are expected to pause temporarily on Wednesday afternoon for the speech in parliament by the king.
