Wes Streeting has insisted he can win over the Labour left, as he launches a shadow campaign for the party leadership, saying he has “beaten the odds” throughout his life and can do so again.
The former health secretary, who called on Keir Starmer to resign as he quit the cabinet last week, warned Labour MPs that drifting on with Starmer in charge risked a Joe Biden situation that would usher in a Reform government.
Although there is no official leadership contest – Starmer is still in Downing Street and the favourite, Andy Burnham, is campaigning to win a byelection – Streeting said it was “inevitable” the prime minister would stand down.
In an interview with the Guardian, the Ilford North MP set out his plans for government, including moving 175,000 children out of temporary accommodation, speeding up the establishment of a national care service, bringing in a wealth tax and “looking again” at plans for refugees.
Streeting denied he was motivated by unbridled ambition for the job, or that he was planning to abandon his run for the leadership and fall in behind Burnham. “That’s not what motivates and drives me at all. I do think it’s inevitable that Keir has to go,” he said.
“I know that I start the race as the underdog, but I’ve been the underdog all my life. I’ve had to beat the odds – from the fact that I ended up in parliament rather than prison like my granddad, that I ended up going from one of the toughest state schools in London to one of the best universities in the country.”
