Health Secretary Wes Streeting, widely seen as a potential successor to Sir Keir Starmer, is struggling to win over Labour party members despite the party’s reduced membership under Starmer’s leadership. A Compass survey of over 1,000 members found that only 11% would back Streeting in a leadership contest, compared to 42% for Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
Streeting’s favourability rating among members stood at 18%, placing him on a par with Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband, though both are perceived as further to the left. The findings suggest that the majority of Labour members would prefer a candidate from the left of the party rather than Streeting, who is associated with the Blairite Progress wing and was formerly close to Peter Mandelson.
Recent research from Queen Mary University of London indicates that about 48% of Labour members describe themselves as “fairly leftwing”. The close result of the deputy leadership election and low turnout suggest that members remain largely on the soft left, and may be wary of candidates who appear to shift leftwards after their leadership pledges, as some felt Starmer did after succeeding Jeremy Corbyn in 2020.
Since Starmer took over, Labour membership has fallen from a peak of 532,046 at the end of 2019 to 333,235 at the end of 2024. Professor Tim Bale of Queen Mary University noted that many grassroots members have left to join the Greens or other parties, or become disillusioned. He added that while remaining members are highly likely to be leftwing, they also want to win elections, giving Streeting a chance if he can prove himself electable.
