Pressure mounts on Starmer’s government, as Labour rivals including recently resigned Wes Streeting circle.
Published On 16 May 2026
Wes Streeting, the former British health secretary who resigned from the government this week, says he will run to replace Prime Minister Keir Starmer when the contest is triggered.
Starmer’s government has been on the edge, with the United Kingdom leader facing calls for resignation since his ruling Labour party suffered disastrous local elections.
Though Starmer has brushed aside growing criticism, a Labour contest to replace him looks all but inevitable in London.
While still not announcing he has kickstarted the formal leadership challenge process, Streeting confirmed on Saturday that he will vie to replace Starmer and become the centre-left Labour’s new leader.
Whoever leads the governing party, which has a big majority in the UK’s parliament, will by default become prime minister.
“We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I’ll be standing,” Streeting told a think tank event in London on Saturday. The former health secretary has urged Starmer to set a timetable for his departure.
In his address to the Labour supporters at a Progress group gathering, Streeting took a dig at the prime minister, saying Labour “arrived in government underprepared in too many areas and lacking clarity of vision and direction”, reported the UK’s Guardian newspaper.
No ‘confidence’ in Starmer
On Thursday, Streeting resigned from the Labour government, saying he no longer had “confidence” in Starmer’s leadership. A day later, Streeting threw his weight behind Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who is seen as a top contender to replace Starmer as the Labour leader to lead the country.
“We need our best players on the pitch. There is no doubt that Andy Burnham is one of them,” Streeting wrote on X. “Andy is the best chance of winning, and that should override factional advantage or propping up one person.”
Starmer’s time in office has been dogged by controversy over the appointment of Jeffrey Epstein associate Peter Mandelson as the UK’s ambassador to Washington, as well as frustrations with slow-moving domestic policy changes.
More than 80 MPs in the British parliament have urged him to quit, while four junior ministers have stepped down. Some Labour politicians appear to be rallying around Burnham.
On Thursday, Labour MP Josh Simons resigned from his seat in Makerfield to make way for Burnham to seek election to parliament, which is necessary if he is to challenge Starmer for the party leadership. Labour has agreed to let Burnham seek a return to parliament.
The Makerfield by-election is to be held next month at the earliest – a local contest that could end up defining who leads the UK after Starmer.
If Burnham is elected to the parliament, he would need to gather support from 81 Labour MPs, or 20 percent of the party in parliament, to launch a challenge against Starmer.
Another potential challenger, Angela Rayner, said on Thursday that tax authorities had cleared her of wrongdoing following an investigation into her tax affairs, seen as a hurdle to her leadership bid.