What will happen now? Wes Streeting resigns as health secretary and calls for Starmer to go

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He told Sir Keir on Thursday that it is “clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election” after the party lost some 1,400 seats in last week's local elections.

Mr Streeting said in his resignation letter: "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 to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism."

Sir Keir has not yet commented and here are all the details that we know so far.

Who is Wes Streeting?

Wesley Streeting is the MP for Ilford North and was the health secretary from Labour's 2024 general election win until his resignation on May 14.

The 43-year-old has been called a Blairite candidate, although he dislikes this term, and has been a core part of the Labour hierarchy since his election to the Commons in 2015.

Mr Streeting came out as gay in his late teens and has been in a long-term relationship with public relations expert Joseph Dancey, to whom he has been engaged since 2013.

Will Starmer resign?

Sir Keir Starmer told Labour members in a speech on Monday that he would not be resigning.

"Of course, like every government, we've made mistakes, but we got the big political choices right," he told members.

"If we'd listened to the advice of other parties right now, we'd be stuck in a standoff with Iran, having been dragged into a war that is not in our interest. I will never do that."

Sir Keir will now likely choose a new health secretary and look to continue as normal, but he might be forced to resign if all of his Cabinet resigns and he faces an ungovernable party.

Both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were forced into stepping down when their Cabinet members turned against them.

Will there be a leadership contest?

Mr Streeting has not said he will seek to challenge Sir Keir for the leadership of the party and has not said he will back another candidate.

So far, only the armed forces minister, Al Carns, has committed to running, although Angela Rayner and Andy Burnham have both been linked to put their names forward.

Any candidate who wishes to challenge Sir Keir would need to secure the backing of at least 81 Labour MPs.

If Mr Streeting did announce his candidacy and secured the number, which is 20 per cent of the party's Commons make-up, his and Sir Keir's names would be on the ballot.

A vote would then be held by Labour Party members and would likely take place in the early autumn before the party conference season.

On Wednesday, more than 80 MPs called on Sir Keir to resign but this does not mean that they will all back Mr Streeting. Meanwhile, more than 100 MPs signed an open letter calling on Sir Keir to stay in post.

Will there be a general election?

There is no need for any Labour replacement to call a general election purely because of a change of No 10 personnel - with Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak both having won power without fronting an election campaign.

The next general election is not required until 2029.

How else could Labour oust Sir Keir Starmer?

If not through a forced resignation or leadership vote, the only means left for Labour members wanting Sir Keir to resign would be to hold a party confidence vote.

This was used to try to oust Jeremy Corbyn in 2016, but the then-leader was able to survive and also won a leadership challenge vote. Labour Party rules do not require the leader to resign as a result of the vote, which enabled Mr Corbyn to stay put, despite losing.

There could also be a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons tabled by the opposition, but such a motion would likely be voted down by the government.