Health Secretary Wes Streeting has delivered a thinly-veiled critique of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's leadership, urging the Labour government to adopt a 'get it right first time' approach to policy-making. The intervention, from a figure widely seen as a future party leader, highlights growing internal tension over a series of high-profile U-turns that have defined the administration's first 18 months in power.
A Premiership Defined by Reversals
Sir Keir Starmer's time in Downing Street has been characterised by numerous policy reversals. In less than a year and a half, the government has executed more than a dozen significant U-turns, spanning contentious issues from winter fuel payments and measures targeting grooming gangs to recent plans for business rate increases on pubs. The frequency of these changes has provided ample ammunition for critics, with former Tory Cabinet minister Esther McVey quipping that the Prime Minister's promises were 'Keir today, gone tomorrow'.
Further policy shifts appear imminent, with ministers reportedly considering reversals on jury trials, proposed social media bans for under-16s, and extending business rates relief across the hospitality sector. This pattern has fuelled a narrative of a government struggling to translate its landslide 2024 election victory into stable, decisive governance.
Streeting's Call for Competence
Speaking at the Institute for Government think-tank, Wes Streeting defended the principle of governments adapting to public feedback, stating it was 'far better to do the right thing rather than to spare one’s political blushes'. However, he swiftly pivoted to a pointed admonition. He referenced an NHS efficiency initiative known as GIRFT—'get it right first time'—and suggested it should become a resolution for the government in 2026.
'That should be our resolution for 2026 – let’s try and get it right first time,' Streeting declared. In a clear signal to the Prime Minister, he also warned against ministers complaining about the difficulty of governing, arguing that such rhetoric 'risks rolling the pitch' for right-wing rivals advocating for a minimalist state. 'This excuses culture does the centre-Left no favours,' he added. 'If we tell the public we can’t make anything work, why on Earth would they vote to keep us in charge?'
Whitehall Blues and the 'Stakeholder State'
Streeting's comments follow public expressions of frustration from Sir Keir himself about systemic barriers to action. Last month, the Prime Minister told MPs of his 'frustration that every time I go to pull a lever there are a bunch of regulations, consultations, arm’s-length bodies' delaying delivery. This view was echoed and amplified by his former aide, Paul Ovenden, who warned that a 'stakeholder state' of campaigners and regulators had 'captured' parts of government.
Not all observers are sympathetic to this analysis. Whitehall troubleshooter Louise Casey countered at the same conference, insisting ministers needed to 'get a grip' instead of succumbing to 'hopelessness'. Meanwhile, Shadow Chancellor Sir Mel Stride outlined a future Tory approach, pledging to make it easier to sack underperforming civil servants, claiming dismissals for poor performance were currently 'almost non-existent'.
As Labour approaches the midpoint of its term, Wes Streeting's very public call for a more competent, first-time policy process underscores a central challenge for Sir Keir Starmer: translating a massive electoral mandate into a record of dependable and effective governance before the public's patience wears thin.
