Health Secretary Streeting Quits Starmer Cabinet in Leadership Challenge

Efforts to remove British Prime Minister Keir Starmer from office erupted into open rebellion Thursday. Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the Cabinet, becoming the first senior minister to quit in what observers expect will lead to a leadership challenge. Another potential rival, Angela Rayner, cleared a path to enter any future contest.

Streeting wrote in his resignation letter that Starmer had shown courage and statesmanship on the world stage, not least in keeping Britain out of the war in Iran. "But where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift," he said. "It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election."

His move followed the resignations of four other government members on Tuesday. Starmer faces rising calls to step down after Labour's poor showing in local and regional elections last week.

Streeting, whose ambitions are well known, ranks among a few figures who could seek to replace Starmer. In his letter, he highlighted gains in health services under his watch. Waiting times for National Health Service appointments, one of his main goals, dropped for the fifth month in a row.

He said supporters want the coming debate to focus on ideas, not personalities or faction fights. "It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates," Streeting wrote.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said Thursday she had settled tax issues with authorities that led to her Cabinet exit last September. She told the Guardian that Starmer should reflect on his position. Rayner added she stood ready to play her part in any leadership race if Streeting sparks one.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham also draws attention as a contender, though he would need to return to Parliament first. Allies say a sitting MP might step aside for him in a by-election. Burnham skipped his usual Thursday BBC radio slot this week to focus on talks stemming from last week's elections.

Labour rules require a leadership challenger to secure support from 81 of the party's 403 House of Commons members. More than that number have urged Starmer to resign in recent days.

Streeting and Starmer both hail from Labour's moderate wing. Rayner appeals to the party's left, pushing for higher minimum wages and taxes on the wealthy.

Pressure on Starmer mounted after Labour's heavy losses last week to Reform UK, the populist anti-immigration party led by Nigel Farage. The results highlighted voter anger over unkept promises on economic growth and living standards amid stagnation and high inflation.

Starmer has pledged to stay on. He warned Tuesday that a leadership fight would bring chaos when the government should tackle the cost of living and Middle East war. "The country expects us to get on with governing," he said. "That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet."

Positive GDP data offered some support Thursday. The economy expanded 0.6 percent in the first quarter, up from 0.2 percent before, according to the Office for National Statistics. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves said the growth proved her policies worked and would fund public services.

"But that is only possible because of the economic stability that we have brought back to our economy," she told the BBC. "And we shouldn't put that at risk by plunging the country in chaos at a time when there is conflict in the world."

Jonathan Tonge, a politics professor at the University of Liverpool, said the push against Starmer might fade but would likely return soon amid political divisions. "If a civil war opens up within a Labour Party that's supposed to be governing us at present, it's an extraordinary state of affairs given it's less than two years since Keir Starmer won one of Labour's greatest election victories ever," he said. "He's got a huge parliamentary majority, he's got more than 400 MPs, and yet his prime ministership may be on the brink of disintegration."