Wes Streeting slams Starmer's 'drift' in damning resignation letter as he fires opening shot in leadership race
In his resignation letter to Sir Keir, Mr Streeting said he had "lost confidence" in the PM's leadership
Wes Streeting has resigned from the Government and joined calls for Sir Keir Starmer to stand down.
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In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Streeting said he had "lost confidence" in the PM's leadership and that remaining in post would be "dishonourable and unprincipled".
Mr Streeting told Sir Keir it was “now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election”.
He continued: "Labour MPs and Labour Unions want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism. It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates."
Mr Streeting is widely thought to be planning to challenge Sir Keir for the Labour leadership, although he did not directly address this in his resignation letter.
Potential challengers to Sir Keir are reported to include the former health secretary, Ed Miliband, Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner, as more than 88 Labour MPs have publicly called for Starmer to resign - while a separate list of over 110 Labour MPs has called for him to stay in post.
Josh Simons, the MP for Makerfield in the north-west, said on Thursday he will step down to make way for the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham to return to Parliament.
Read more: Who is Wes Streeting? Labour health secretary set 'to challenge Starmer'
— Wes Streeting (@wesstreeting) May 14, 2026
An ally of the now-former health secretary has said Mr Streeting will not launch an immediate challenge.
They said: “Wes has the numbers, but has chosen not to force an immediate contest because it is clear that would not be the right thing for the party.
“Keir Starmer needs to set out a timetable and allow the widest possible contest. It is the only way to rebuild from this mess.”
In his resignation letter, Mr Streeting also warned of the "existential threat" posed by "a dangerous English nationalism represented by Nigel Farage and Reform UK".
He remarked that many are "increasingly losing faith that the Labour Party is capable of rising to our historic responsibility of defeating racism and offering hope that Britain’s best days lie ahead through social democracy."
Mr Streeting added that serving as health secretary had been "the greatest joy of my life," adding, "regardless of our differences this week, I remain truly grateful to you for the opportunity to serve and I am deeply saddened to be leaving government in this way".
In his resignation letter, the former health secretary pointed to a series of NHS gains, saying waiting lists fell by 110,000 in March — the biggest monthly drop outside the pandemic since 2008 — while ambulance response times for heart attacks and strokes, and A&E four-hour waits, are now at their best levels in five years.
He also highlighted the recruitment of 2,000 more GPs, a rise in patient satisfaction from 60 to 74.5 per cent, and the target of hiring 8,500 mental health staff being met three years early, alongside balancing the books and beating the NHS productivity goal.
He added: "The National Health Service is the embodiment of all that is best about Britain and our values. Thanks to our Labour government, it is on the road to recovery: lots done, but so much more to do."