Wes Streeting held a 16-minute meeting with Keir Starmer in Downing Street on Wednesday amid escalating Labour leadership tensions. The health secretary arrived as an ally called for the prime minister to set out a departure timetable, saying his authority had “irretrievably ebbed away”. Streeting left without commenting, while No 10 insiders downplayed speculation of an imminent leadership bid.
Dr Zubir Ahmed, a junior health minister who resigned on Tuesday, blamed Starmer for Labour’s poor local election results and urged an “orderly expedient transition”. He accused the prime minister of becoming the “inadvertent midwife of a fifth-term SNP government” in Scotland, citing “noise created at the centre”. Ahmed said colleagues widely view the situation as “unsustainable and unstable”.
Previous resignations of four junior ministers and calls from senior cabinet members Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood for an orderly transition have intensified pressure. Ed Miliband’s allies denied reports he was prepared to run if Streeting triggered a contest before Andy Burnham could return to Westminster.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, a Starmer ally, dismissed the meeting as a “coffee” and insisted no viable challenger exists, as Labour rebels lack an alternative candidate with 81 MP backing required for a leadership contest. Meanwhile, 11 Labour-affiliated unions, including Unite, Unison and GMB, were expected to issue a joint statement predicting Starmer would not lead the party into the next general election, calling for a plan to elect a new leader.
