A summary of today's developments
A week is indeed a long time in politics as Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, issued a statement saying why he wants to be the next MP for Makerfield. Burnham said “much bigger change is needed at a national level”, singling out the cost of living crisis as a priority for his campaign in a statement that set out why he wanted to return to Westminster. Josh Simons, the former Cabinet Office minister who is MP for Makerfield, announced that he is resigning to free up a seat for Burnham.
The Guardian understands Keir Starmer will not attempt to block Andy Burnham from standing to be an MP in the Greater Manchester constituency. An ally of Starmer said: “Keir is focused on bringing the party together so it can tackle the issues facing working families.”
Wes Streeting resigned as health secretary and said he wants Labour to have a leadership contest with “the best possible field of candidates”. He told Keir Starmer: “It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour party into the next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour unions want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism. “It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope that you will facilitate this.” He accused Starmer of failing to offer proper leadership, and of being at least in part responsible for the scale of Labour losses in the elections last week.
James Murray has been appointed Health Secretary, following Wes Streeting’s resignation, Downing Street said. Murray was previously Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Former deputy PM Angela Rayner has resolved her tax affairs with HMRC following an investigation, settling £40,000 in unpaid stamp duty. She has been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs.
Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell is expected to say Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner should all be “key players” in Labour’s team in a speech on Friday.
Nigel Farage has provided a new explanation for why he accepted a £5m gift from a Reform UK donor in the weeks before he announced he would stand in the last general election. Farage said the money was a “reward” for campaigning for Brexit. Previously, he had said the gift was given for security purposes, to keep him “safe and secure” for the rest of his life. He had also claimed the gift was “purely private” and “wasn’t political in any sense at all”. Asked about the gift, he told The Sun: “And this was given to me on an unconditional basis, completely unconditional basis. But frankly, it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years.”
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Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram said the Labour Party “should welcome” a leadership contest from Andy Burnham, declaring his Greater Manchester counterpart should be allowed to contest the Makerfield by-election.
Rotheram he has been “loyal to every Labour leader” ever since he was a kid, but last week’s local election results brought concerns “into sharp focus”.
“Our party is the greatest organ for social change this country has ever seen, but if we carry on down this road, we face an existential threat and risk letting down the very people we are here to represent,” he added.
James Murray appointed health secretary
James Murray has been appointed health secretary, following Wes Streeting’s resignation earlier today, Downing Street said.
Lucy Rigby will take over Murray’s former role as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Rachel Blake will succeed her as Economic Secretary to the Treasury.
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Commenting on Andy Burnham’s plans to challenge for the Labour leadership, Liberal Democrat Cabinet Office Spokesperson and MP for Hazel Grove Lisa Smart said: “The arrogance of these men is staggering. To believe that representing a community is a gift to be handed to your mate shows utterly, out-of-touch contempt.
“Labour’s internal psychodrama has triggered this by-election so they should pay for the consequences - all £5 million pounds’ worth of the mayoral election.”
“He’s burned bright and briefly,” says one MP of Josh Simons. At the age of 32, the Makerfield MP has already run a thinktank, held a ministerial job, resigned in a scandal, and now quit parliament to in a blaze of publicity to make way for Andy Burnham.
Simons has been supporting Burnham as a potential successor to Keir Starmer for some time. But few expected the ambitious Labour figure to give up his seat having only won it two years ago and moving his young family to the constituency.
In his letter, he said he was putting his constituents first, as there needed to be a “shock to the Westminster system”.
He was also one of the first to call publicly on the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure after the local election results – even though he previously ran thinktank Labour Together that helped put Starmer in power and fuelled its policy programme.
Burnham supporters have been gushing about Simons’s decision, with one saying he had “literally put the party and the country first – like everyone else lectures we have to do – he’s done it”. Simons, who only recently welcomed a third child with his wife, was showered with praise from Burnham, who hailed “the difficult decision and sacrifice that he and his family are making”.
However, many MPs had only recently been disparaging Simons for having tangled up the government up in a scandal over gathering intelligence on journalists.
Labour’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, is expected to say Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner should all be “key players” in Labour’s team in a speech on Friday.
Powell will repeat her support for the mayor of Greater Manchester’s bid to return to parliament as Labour’s candidate in the Makerfield byelection when she speaks at the Fire Brigades Union conference.
She is expected to say: “The election results last week were deeply painful and difficult for our party, and the aftermath has been unedifying for us all too. We don’t do hostile takeovers in Labour for a reason. Keir is the leader, and I warned against bloody internal battles reflecting badly.
“If we think we don’t have further to fall, that’s a mistake: we can. We must come back together as one team to take the fight to Farage and show that mainstream progressive politics can bring about the change people are crying out for.
“That also means doing politics differently. Ending briefing wars, ending factionalism, and representing all our traditions with our strongest team on the pitch – being one Labour team.
“Andy Burnham, Wes Streeting and Angela Rayner should all be key players in our team.
“Andy wants to come back to parliament – I’ve always supported his desire to do so, and I support that again. As deputy leader, I am confident he would have the support of the vast majority of the party and movement in doing so.”
Updated
Keir Starmer has proposed a face-to-face meeting with the leaders of the devolved governments next month after confirming he would be “open to a conversation” about devolving more powers from Westminster.
Starmer put forward the idea of a meeting in June during a phone call with Plaid Cymru’s newly installed first minister of Wales, Rhun ap Iorwerth.
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After it emerged that Zack Polanski failed to vote in the local elections, Kevin Hollinrake MP, Chairman of the Conservative Party, said: “Even Zack Polanski can’t bring himself to vote for the Green Party.
“This is a bizarre failure and adds to a long list of half truths and blatant lies from Zack Polanski.
“The Green’s are not a serious party. Only the Conservatives have the team, plan and leader with a backbone to Get Britain Working Again.”
As resignation letters go, it is long – two pages and nearly 1,000 words – and relatively dense. And as ever with such missives, there is plenty of subtext behind the substance.
So what was Wes Streeting trying to say to Keir Starmer?
Analysis of last week’s local election results show that of the ten wards contested on Wigan Council that fall within the parliamentary constituency of Makerfield, either wholly or partially, Reform candidates won every single one of them.
Andy Burnham needs to make clear if he will be break away from “terrible orthodoxies” of the past or be “more of the same”, Green Party leader Zack Polanski said.
Responding to the announcement that the Greater Manchester mayor plans to stand in a by-election in a bid to return to Parliament and challenge Keir Starmer, the Green leader said: “Last week’s elections shows the country is crying out for a break from the failed status quo.
“Keir Starmer has been unable and unwilling to break with an economic model that has fuelled the affordability crisis, and this is why we have said he must go.
“Whatever happens in the coming by-election, Andy Burnham will need to make clear which version of him is going to show up.
“Is it the politician who has been part and parcel of the Labour establishment for decades, abstaining on legislation making brutal cuts to welfare, PFI and other Labour privatisations, or is it the one who has publicly supported proportional representation, been a popular mayor in Manchester and expressed support to make changes to the failed economic model?
“The country needs to know if Andy Burnham is serious about breaking out from the terrible orthodoxies from the past, or if he will just be more of the same.”
Starmer will not attempt to block Burnham from standing as MP
The Guardian understands that Keir Starmer will not attempt to block Andy Burnham from standing to be MP in Makerfield, Greater Manchester.
An ally of Starmer said: “Keir is focused on bringing the party together so it can tackle the issues facing working families.”
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Wes Streeting has quit his cabinet role as health secretary and called on Keir Starmer to resign as prime minister after days of speculation.
But Streeting did not launch his own challenge to trigger a leadership contest, so what could be next for Starmer’s government?
And has he left the door open for Andy Burnham? Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jessica Elgot.
Zack Polanski did not register to vote in this month’s local elections because of the heightened intrusion and safety risk faced him, according to the Green party.
The Green leader is now in talks with the police and local authorities about registering to vote anonymously, the party told the Guardian.
Polanski has been under pressure since admitting he may have failed to pay the correct council tax while living on a houseboat moored in east London. He has faced mounting questions over whether it was his primary residence.
The party said on Thursday that Polanski lived on the houseboat for just under four years, something which it said came with “unconventional practical considerations, including whether council tax is included in mooring fees.”
He was now seeking clarity on whether he owed anything was committed to paying that immediately.
His living arrangements had been “in flux” in recent months and he had recently moved into a rented home, said the statement, which sought to address claims that the party had misled The Times when it had told the newspaper that Polanski rented a room at another address where council tax was included in the rent and stayed on the boat only “occasionally”.
“We issued a rapid response to an unexpected query in the middle of a busy local election period in which we disclosed some facts before we had the full picture,” it said.
The statement went on: “Since becoming leader Zack has been subject to extreme and distressing press intrusion, including antisemitic cartoons being published about him, and journalists doorstepping family members.”
“Zack has also been the target of antisemitic and homophobic abuse, with two people arrested in relation to abuse directed towards him. One consequence of the heightened intrusion and safety risk he faces was that Zack did not register to vote in the most recent local elections.”
While MPs and councillors are protected under Operation Ford and Operation Bridger, UK policing initiatives designed to protect democratic processes by securing elected officials against intimidation and harassment, the party said that its leader does not benefit from this protection either as a London Assembly member nor as a national party leader.
This was subject to conversations with the Metropolitan police and is under review.
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The favourability ratings of the current party leaders and senior Labour politicians.
As the drama unfolding at Westminster, at Holyrood 129 newly elected MSPs were sworn in to begin their duties, with a notable multilingual effort from the Lib Dem’s Yi-Pei Chou Turvey who took her oath in Mandarin, French and English.
Newbies - this term sees the largest number of never-before MSPs since the parliament started in 1999 - have been going through an intensive orientation with Holyrood staff ‘buddies’ since Monday and had a chance to relax in the garden lobby with family members today.
But many remarked on how insistent the parliamentary authorities had been that remote working and voting, a hangover from COVID times, should be limited with a focus on being in the building together.
While SNP members wore their traditional white rose button hole, a nod to nationalist Hugh McDiarmid’s famous poem, while Reform opted for heather and the Greens a bright pink gerbera.
While Keir Starmer’s authority as prime minister feels terminally undermined after calls from MPs and departing ministers to step down, he remains inside No 10 – for now. So how, and when, might he be removed? Here are some possible scenarios.
The Scottish parliament has elected a Scottish National Party rebel as its new presiding officer, after he stood against the party’s favourite for the role.
Kenny Gibson, one of Holyrood’s longest serving backbenchers, won in the final round by 74 votes to 54 gained by Claire Haughey, who had been backed for the post by senior figures close to John Swinney, the first minister.
One of the early favourites, the Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, who last week held Orkney with 70% of the vote, was knocked out during the second round in what was a secret ballot, which is very rarely used at Holyrood.
It is thought Gibson won support from the Conservatives and Reform MSPs, and that other SNP MSPs backed him too. It is thought Labour and Scottish Green MSPs initially backed McArthur. Another SNP MSP, Stuart McMillan, was knocked out in the first round with only six votes.
Gibson was latterly the popular convenor of Holyrood’s finance and public administration committee and had delivered the most engaging and detailed pitch in a candidates’ hustings on Wednesday; he had promised to allow MSPs greater freedom and to stop debates being “dull”.
Updated
Why even Burnham would face tough challenge beating Reform UK in Makerfield
There are various election websites now that will produce a forecast for individual constituencies, based on current polling and what what is known about the demographics of those areas. They suggest that, in a normal byelection, Makerfield should be an easy Reform UK win.
Here are the figures from the Nowcast model run by Election Maps UK.
And here are the figures from Britain Predicts, the model run by the New Statesman.
For Makerfield, Britain Predicts says...
Reform: 41%
Labour: 28%
Green: 12%
Conservative: 8%
Lib Dem: 7%
On the PM programme, John Curtice, the BBC’s election expert, also said that winning Makerfield would be tough for Burnham. He explained:
If we look at what happened in the constituency back in 2024, Labour at 45% while only 13 points ahead of Reform.
If you compare that with the majority that Labour had in the Runcorn constituency in 2024, which of course, Reform won from Labour in the byelection last year, there Labour’s lead in 2024 was 35%.
[Makerfield] a constituency where two thirds of people voted leave, and that is a very strong signifier of the kind of place that is likely to vote Reform.
And of course, this is part of Wigan. And Reform did well in the local elections in Wigan.
In short, if Mr. Burnham stands and he wins, he will certainly be demonstrating an ability to reach parts of the electorate most Labour politicians seem to struggle to reach.
But there must be a serious risk that even he will not be able to withstand the tide of Nigel Farage’s Reform.
On the other hand, the constituency election modelling does not make any allowance for candidate popularity. And Burnham has been exceptionally popular as Greater Manchester mayor (he had 62% support in Makerfield). And he would be running an insurgency campaign – as, in effect, and anti-Starmer candidate, not a pro-Starmer candidate.
That’s all from me for today. Nadeem Badshah is taking over now.
Farage says Reform UK will 'throw absolutely everything' at winning Makerfield byelection
Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has posted this on social media.
We look forward to the Makerfield by-election. Reform will throw absolutely everything at it.
Burnham says he wants to become Makerfield's MP to make 'politics work for people' and life 'more affordable'
Andy Burnham has issued a statement saying why he wants to be the next MP for Makerfield.
Over the last decade, I have been challenging [the failure of Westminster] from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures.
However, there is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again. This is why I now seek people’s support to return to parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people.
Millions are struggling and they need the Labour government to succeed. It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the prime minister and the government the space and stability they need as the byelection takes place.
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'MPs don't get to pick their successors,' McFadden warns
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, was being interviewed on Radio 4’s PM programme when the news about Josh Simons dropped. He warned:
One thing I have learned from politics is that MPs don’t get to pick their successors, it doesn’t work like that.
McFadden would not say whether or not he thought Labour would, or should, try to block Andy Burnham from being the candidate in Makerfield. He cited the fact that Burnham’s resignation would mean Labour needing to fight a mayoral campaign in Greater Manchester (one reason given by the party to justify blocking Burnham when he wanted to be MP for Gorton and Denton). But he said the decision would be one for Labour’s national executive committee.
He also implied there was no inevitability about Burnham winning. He said:
I think Andy is a hugely talented person, I’ve known him not just for years but for decades. I have enormous respect for him in his role as Greater Manchester mayor.
We can have all sorts of desires in politics but when it comes to electoral politics in the end, quite rightly, it’s the voters who decide.
Extracts from Simons' letter to his constituents saying why they should back Burnham as their next MP
In his open letter to his constituents, Josh Simons repeats many of the points he made in his shorter statement on social media. (See 5.19pm.) But he fleshes them out in a bit more detail.
This is what he says about why he thinks Labour is not delivering “the urgent, radical, brave reform we need”.
Since I was elected, I have seen that Westminster and Whitehall are so often a barrier to getting things done – even as my own party is in power.
The truth is, complacency has become a rot. The establishment is so far from the realities of your lives that too many tweak a failing system just to stay in power. As our world gets more insecure and our economy flatlines, Westminster stays stuck.
It does not have to be this way. There is a different future for our towns – where there are good local jobs, we reindustrialise and back the trades, young people can afford to stay and build a life here, our town centres and parks are places we want to spend time in, and our kids inherit something better than what we did.
But the route to this future requires breaking with what we have today. We need to shift the power that is stacked against places like ours. As I have said, I do not believe this government is delivering the urgent, radical, brave reform we need. We need a new direction.
This is what he says about why he is stepping aside for Andy Burnham.
I believe that Andy Burnham can provide it. These towns are Andy’s home. He grew up and raised his children here and he has fought for us all his life. He stood by me to secure flood defences after the Platt Bridge floods. He demanded that the Bickershaw dump get cleaned up – and got results. Andy is from us and for us.
I could not stand here and tell you that our politics is broken and things need to change, then stand in the way of supporting that change. That is why I have decided to put you, the people I represent, and the country I love, first.
That means stepping aside as your MP for Makerfield to make way for a leader who has the radicalism, energy, and immense courage to meet the moment. A leader who is authentic, honest, and trusted, who says what he believes and does what he says. Someone who has the track record of delivering for working people, building alliances, and using the talents of colleagues from every part of the party. That is Andy.
This is what he says about his personal commitment to the town.
I want to be clear: I am stepping aside but I am not stepping away. Our home is here and I will be fighting to save Ashton Library, clean up the Bickershaw dump, secure flood defences and health provision in Orrell and Hindley Green, and deliver new roads. I will be a thorn in anybody’s side who stands in our way.
And this is what he says about why his constituents should vote for Burnham.
If you place your trust in him, we will restore our towns to the places they should be, rip up the existing system, and build a new one that puts you at the heart of it. With Andy, I will fight for that, and for you, every step of the way.
Simons also set out his case for why Keir Starmer should be replaced in a long article for the Times at the weekend.
Labour's Josh Simons to stand down as Makerfield MP to free up seat for Burnham
Josh Simons, the former Cabinet Office minister who is MP for Makerfield, has announced that he is resigning to free up a seat for Andy Burnham.
In a post on social media, he says:
For decades, Westminster has overseen the managed decline of towns like mine. We have talked big, then acted small, stuck in a politics of incrementalism that cannot meet the moment. We have lost the trust of those our party was built to serve.
It is my unwavering belief that nothing short of urgent, radical, courageous reform will make a difference. That must start with a change in leadership.
Today, I am putting the people I represent and the country I love first and will be resigning as MP for Makerfield. I am standing aside so that Andy Burnham can return to his home, fight to re-enter Parliament, and if elected, drive the change our country is crying out for.
This has not been an easy decision. This is my family’s home, where only a few weeks ago, doctors and nurses at Wigan Infirmary saved our newborn son’s life.
But we all must make choices and in recent days I found myself with a difficult one: defend the status quo or step forward and act.
I have made my choice. I am in politics because politics is how you change lives for the better. My party has one last chance to do that: deliver for the people and places I represent, drive economic growth, secure our borders, reform our state and politics, and change a status quo that is not working.
That is the fight. I believe Andy is the one to lead it.
Here is his letter to constituents.
Simons has a majority of 5,339 at the last election.
Updated
Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, is being interviewed on the PM programme. Asked when a new health secretary would be appointed, he said it would come “pretty soon”.
Starmer tells Streeting he is 'truly sorry' he has quit, but says he will play 'important role' in Labour 'for years to come'
Downing Street has published Keir Starmer’s reply to Wes Streeting’s resignation letter.
Starmer says he is “very sorry” that Streeting has quit, and he thanks him for his work with the NHS.
On the election results, Starmer says:
Last week’s local election results were extremely tough. I know many colleagues saw good friends lose seats. Everyone in our party is acutely aware that our opponents are more dangerous than ever before. They are a real threat to the values we care about, to the communities we represent and to the country we love.
It is incumbent on all of us to rise to what I see as a battle for the soul of our nation. As part of that we must deliver on all ofthe promises we made to the country, including our promise to turn the page on the chaos that was roundly rejected by the British people at the last general election.
I am truly sorry you will no longer be sat at the cabinet table helping to transform our National Health Service. But I have no doubt you will continue to play an important role in our party for many years to come. I hope we can work together to show that Labour in power can address the problems our opponents exploit, can install hope where they want despair, and can bring people together where they want division.
This is more conciliatory than letters of this kind normally are after a hostile resignation.
Sinn Féin, SNP and Plaid Cymru meet to discuss 'new era of cooperation', with warning 'Westminster's time is up'
Sinn Féin, the SNP and Plaid Cymru have held a meeting at Westminster to discuss what they describe as “a new era of cooperation between Scotland, Wales and the north of Ireland”.
For the first time since devolution, the administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are all led by nationalist politicians. This has been seen as a step towards making the break-up of the UK more possible – even though there is no prospect of imminent votes on separation in any of those countries.
In a statement after the meeting, Michelle O’Neill, the first minister in Northern Ireland, said:
We agreed to continue working together in common purpose to deliver for our people and their right to national self-determination.
People are increasingly looking beyond the constraints of Westminster and towards a future where decisions are taken at home.
O’Neill was meeting Dave Doogan, the SNP leader at Westminster, and Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader at Westminter.
The SNP said “a new era of cooperation between Scotland, Wales and the north of Ireland” was discussed at the meeting. Doogan said:
Last week’s elections were truly historic. Scotland, Wales and the north of Ireland are now all led by first ministers who are committed to independence.
For people watching around the world, there is no clearer sign that Westminster’s time is up.
Fire Brigades Union votes against proposal to disaffiliate from Labour
The Fire Brigades Union has voted down a proposal to disaffiliate from the Labour party, the Press Association reports. PA says:
Delegates at the annual conference of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) held a lengthy debate on links with the party in the aftermath of last week’s elections.
FBU general secretary Steve Wright said millions of working-class people had rejected “Keir Starmer’s Labour party”.
He told delegates at the conference at the University of Warwick that the message could not be clearer, adding: “Starmer is not fit to lead the Labour party, and he is not fit to be prime minister. This is Starmer’s fault and Starmer must go.”
Answering calls from some delegates to disaffiliate, he said: “We can drift away from Labour altogether, cosy up to another party, or we stay and fight. We stay in the room. We stay in the argument.”
Delegates voted to remain affiliated to Labour.
On Monday the Communication Workers Union voted against a proposal to disaffiliate from Labour.
Here is some more reaction from other parties to the resignation of Wes Streeting.
From Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader
Perhaps now we’ll get a health secretary who will take on social care, rather than dodge it because it’s hard. Who will end corridor care, not preside over its worst ever year. Labour needs to get a grip.
From Seamus Logan MP, the SNP’s health spokesperson
This isn’t government, this is chaos. The eventual resignation of Peter Mandelson’s right wing pal Wes Streeting is a sure sign that Keir Starmer’s Labour party is preparing to go from bad to worse.
In the middle of a cost of living emergency, the Labour party are openly telling people that their focus will be on fighting amongst themselves instead of fighting to cut people’s energy and fuel bills.
It is important to be clear what Labour politicians mean when they talk about a long leadership timetable – it is a timetable for this chaos to go on even longer.
From Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid Cymru leader at Westminster
After much speculation and rumour, there goes another one of Starmer’s team. His power and authority as prime minister has been further weakened today, raising a serious question of when rather than if. And so the chaos continues.
This is from Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt on the anti-Streeting briefing coming out this afternoon from Keir Starmer’s supporters.
Breaking: Wes Streeting is unlikely to be on Keir Starmer’s Christmas card list for some time. This is what a Starmer ally has told me:
“Wes has failed the most basic rule of politics: he can’t count. He never had the numbers. We counted and counted and counted and recounted. The highest number we got for Wes was 44. We could not see how he could get higher than that.
We knew that, Wes will have known that. So all that stuff from Wes about how he is resigning in the party interest to allow a broad debate is a load of old guff. He never had the numbers.
So what does Wes do when he doesn’t have the number? He seeks to brief his way out of a difficult position.
So his closest ally resigns from the government. Then he briefs that the cabinet are turning on Keir. No they’re not. So the government goes on. We will appoint a new health secretary.
The sad thing is we have a good story to tell today. Good growth. But nobody is talking about that.”
Reform UK has lost control of Worcestershire county council, the BBC reports. Reform had been running a minority administration on the council since the elections last year. But the Reform group split as a result of in-fighting, and the council is now run by the Conservatives working with the Greens, the Lib Dems and independents.
Labour's West of England mayor chooses Green councillor as her deputy
Steven Morris is a Guardian correspondent covering the west of England.
There has been an unusual outbreak of harmony in Bristol – two political parties building bridges.
In what they say is a first for England, Helen Godwin, the Labour mayor of the West of England, unveiled Cllr Tony Dyer, the Green leader of Bristol city council, as deputy mayor.
Godwin’s people say this is the first appointment by a Labour leader of a Green politician as deputy mayor of any combined authority in England.
Godwin said the pair were united over issues such as improving transport, building new homes and creating new jobs.
Dyer said working together across political parties was the way to make sure the west of England fulfilled its potential.
Voters in Ilford North may be disappointed to learn that Wes Streeting has not launched a leadership challenge today. Helena Horton went to the constituency to find out what people have to say about their MP, and she discovered that they are rather fond of him.
In his statement accompanying the release of NHS England waiting times figures this morning (see 10.42am), Wes Streeting said the NHS had delivered “the biggest cut in waiting lists in a single month in 17 years”. In his resignation letter, Streeting qualified this, saying today’s figure was “the biggest monthly drop outside of Covid since 2008”. (See 1.26pm.)
The Press Association has done a fact check on this claim. It says the qualified version is correct. It explains:
The most recent NHS England data show the waiting list stood at 7.11 million treatments in March, a fall of 110,073 treatments from February when it was 7.22 million.
Analysis of historical data shows this was the largest month-on-month decline since April 2020 when the waiting list fell by 335,009 treatments, and is also lower than March 2020 when it fell by 187,378 treatments. Both of these instances were during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Outside of the pandemic, March 2026 recorded the largest fall since the waiting list shrunk from 2.63 million in September 2008 to 2.47 million in October 2008, which was a decrease of 158,745 treatments.
Badenoch claims Streeting's resignation shows Labour has 'descended into civil war'
Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, has claimed in a social media video that Wes Streeting’s resignation shows that Labour has now “descended into civil war”.
Nigel Farage bought £1.4m property in cash shortly after receiving £5m gift
Nigel Farage bought a £1.4m property in cash shortly after receiving a £5m personal gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, Ben Quinn and Rowena Mason report.
Farage has also given an interview to the Sun’s Harry Cole. In the past Farage has always defended the £5m donation he received from Harborne on the grounds that it was a personal gift to pay for his security for the rest of his life. Speaking to Cole, Farage gave a slightly different explanation, describing it as a reward for his Brexit campaign.
When it was put to him that getting a £5m gift was unusual, Farage replied:
It’s very unusual for someone to give up 27 years of their life to campaign for something. And this was given to me on an unconditional basis, completely unconditional basis. But frankly, it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years.
Streeting does have 80-plus MPs supporters, but took 'principled decision' not to trigger contest, key supporter claims
The Labour MP Alan Gemmell was also on the World at One. He is a leading Wes Streeting supporter, and he was interviewed on the programme in effect as a quasi spokesperson for the campaign.
He claimed Streeting did have the support of 81 Labour MPs (enough to launch a leadership challenge). He said:
[Streeting] has the support of the right number, of more than 81 MPs in the party.
But he’s taken a principled decision today not to trigger that contest … It’s clear in conversations with MPs and with the unions that the party wants a discussion, a battle of ideas, an open contest, a broad contest for the direction that we should take and how we fix the problems that we’re in.
On the same programme, Stephen Bush, the FT commentator, said that Streeting does have more than 80 Labour MPs who would like to see him become leader. But he pointed out that some of those are in government, and reluctant to start a process that could lead to them leaving their jobs.
To nominate Streeting in a leadership contest, a minister would have to disclose their name to the party, and would have to resign.
Updated
Catherine West says she would not rule out voting for Starmer in leadership election - despite having led calls for contest
The former minister Catherine West kicked off the Labour leadership speculation when she announced on Saturday that, if no cabinet minister launched a challenge, she would try to stand as a candidate herself.
Since then she has rather changed her tune. On Monday she said she was not standing as a candidate, but was urging Labour MPs to back calls for a contest.
Today, in an interview on the World at One, West said that she would not rule out voting for Keir Starmer herself. She said:
What I would like to see is the honest conversation and people coming forward, including the prime minister if he is going to be a candidate in this particular race.
Because, of course, many of us like Keir very much as a person. He has got excellent credentials on the international stage and he could well win a competition if he put his name forward.
If Keir Starmer decides he has got the bottle and he can come and fight – fight as if he is fighting for the working people of this country – then he could beat the others, because he is a very bright man.
What journalists and commentators are saying about Streeting's resignation letter
Here is some commentary on the Wes Streeting letter from political journalists.
From my colleague Jessica Elgot
This letter from Wes Streeting reads awfully like the beginnings of an Andy Burnham deal... “a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism. It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope that you will facilitate this.”
From Robert Shrimsley at the FT
So this is quite a cute way out. He does the brave thing but positions it as a move for the whole party by a) delaying the collection of names (which he may not have) and b) saying the contest must wait for Andy.
From Joe Pike at the BBC
The Streeting strategy now seems to be getting his supporters to pile pressure on the PM to quit, and avoiding a vote of Labour MPs on whether to challenge Keir Starmer.
“We wait and see what Keir does”, says one senior ally of the former health secretary. “There’s still a chance Keir goes of his own accord and sets a timetable and ends this chaos.”
Supporters of Wes Streeting claim he has the 81 MPs needed to mount a leadership challenge. They also suggest more ministers could resign from government later today, although not necessarily at cabinet level.
From Alex Wickham at Bloomberg
One thing is clear: Wes Streeting has accepted he is unable to trigger a contest now. We know he originally wanted a ‘swift’ contest because that’s what his allies said in their statements. Now he’s backed down and called for an orderly transition. So it’s over to Andy Burnham.
From Adam Bienkov at Byline Times
Streeting’s letter and the language about wanting a “broad” contest suggests he’s opening the door to a deal with Burnham.
He surely knows he can’t win the contest outright himself (see today’s Labourlist polling) but could still position himself for a top job
From Charlie Cooper at Politico
Streeting will know his odds of winning any contest against soft left are low But his letter appears (skilfully) written with an eye on senior Cabinet job in any future Burnham/Rayner govt Opened door to wide contest. Sympathised with left’s concerns eg. immigration rhetoric
From Dan Hodges from the Mail on Sunday
People totally missing the point about Streeting’s letter. The issue of whether he has the numbers is no longer relevant. All that matters now is all the main candidates, the bulk of the PLP, 2/3rds of the cabinet and the Trade Unions all agree Starmer has to set out a timetable for his departure leading up to September. That’s broken the logjam.
Updated
This is from Jonathan Brash, the Labour MP for Hartlepool, on Wes Streeting’s letter. Brash was one of the MPs calling for Keir Starmer to quit even before the May elections.
The call for a broad contest with the best possible field of candidates is absolutely right from @wesstreeting. The Prime Minister should now do the right thing for the country and set a timetable.
Wes Streeting’s letter today makes it a lot less likely that there will a Labour leadership contest soon with Keir Starmer as a candidate. Streeting seems to be working on the assumption that at some point in the future there will be a contest that won’t feature Starmer. (See 1.26pm.)
So polling by LabourList published a bit earlier may be less relevant than it was this morning. But it is still quite interesting. It is a poll of Labour members and it suggests, in a head-to-head contest, Starmer would lose to Andy Burnham (easily) and would lose to Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband (by a narrow margin), but would beat all other potential candidates (including Streeting) quite easily.
One problem with polling like this is that Labour leadership contests normally don’t boil down to a head-to-head between two candidates. It is more likely that members would choose between several candidates and, as Jessica Elgot points out, the preferential voting system used might help Starmer because he would be lots of people’s second choice.
Updated
The Green party has issued this statement in response to Wes Streeting’s resignation. A Green spokesperson said:
If Labour thinks Wes Streeting is the answer, they obviously don’t know the question the country is asking.
Last week’s elections show the country is crying out for a break from the failed status quo. Keir Starmer has been unable and unwilling to break with an economic model that has fuelled the affordability crisis, and this is why we have said he must go.
Wes Streeting would be more of the same, but even worse, a factional and divisive politician, a close ally of Peter Mandelson, who favours an economy even more tilted to the wealthy, and whose record as health secretary is more privatisation and more personal donations from private healthcare.
This reads like a statement drafted in anticipation of Streeting launching a leadership challenge which nobody could be bothered to re-write after it emerged that he’s not doing that (at least today – see 1.32pm.) What we’ve learned this afternoon is that Labour doesn’t think Streeting is the answer; if they did, he would have the MP backer numbers and would be launching a leadership bid.
Streeting says NHS is 'on road to recovery' as result of measures taken while he was health secretary
Here is more on what Wes Streeting says in his resignation letter on his record as health secretary. He says:
The only question that matters in government is whether we leave our successors a better situation than we inherited. Ambulance response times for heart attacks and strokes are now the fastest in five years. A&E waiting times are improving, with four-hour waiting figures also the best in five years. We’ve recruited 2,000 more GPs and satisfaction has risen from 60 per cent to 74.5 per cent since we came to office. We hit our target of recruiting 8,500 mental health staff three years early. We’ve achieved this at the same as balancing the books for the first time in nine years and smashing the 2 per cent NHS productivity target by achieving 2.8 per cent, which means the investment we’re putting in goes further and that the public can have greater confidence that their money is being well-spent.
None of this would have been achieved without the brilliant leadership team of ministers, officials, and special advisers we have established in the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS – superbly led by Samantha Jones and Sir Jim Mackey, who has been a knight in shining armour and a brilliant leader of 1.5 million staff upon whom all this success depends.
The National Health Service is the embodiment of all that is best about Britain and our values. Thanks to our Labour government, it is on the road to recovery: lots done, but so much more to do.
Streeting calls for leadership contest with 'best possible candidates' - saying Labour must offer 'bigger solutions'
Here are the key points from Wes Streeting’s resignation letter. And “resignation letter” is crucial; overshadowing the news that he has quit cabinet is the second revelation in the letter – that he is not launching a leadership bid, at least now. This will be seen as confirmation that he does not have the 80 MP backers he would need to force a contest.
Streeting says he is resigning because he wants Labour to have a leadership contest with “the best possible field of candidates”. This implies that he wants Andy Burnham to be allowed to stand as a candidate, and that he does not favour an immediate contest. He does not suggest a timetable for when he would like to see a contest happen, but the implication is ‘not now, but reasonably soon, after Burnham has had the chance to fight a byelection’. He tells Keir Starmer:
It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour party into the next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour unions want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism. [See 9.45am.] It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope that you will facilitate this.
Serving as your secretary of state for health and social care has been the greatest joy of my life and, regardless of our differences this week, I remain truly grateful to you for the opportunity to serve and I am deeply saddened to be leaving government in this way.
Streeting does not announce a leadership challenge now – although he implies he wants to be a candidate when a contest does happen.
He accuses Starmer of failing to offer proper leadership, and of being at least in part responsible for the scale of Labour losses in the elections last week. He says:
There is no doubt that the unpopularity of this government was a major and common factor in our defeats across England, Scotland and Wales. Good Labour people lost through no fault of their own. There are many reasons we could point to: from individual mistakes on policy like the decision to cut the winter fuel allowance to the ‘island of strangers’ speech, all of which have left the country not knowing who we are or what we really stand for.
You have many great strengths that I admire. You led our party to a victory few thought possible in 2024 and I was proud to fight alongside you in the trenches of that campaign. You have 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. This was underscored by your speech on Monday. Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords. You also need to listen to your colleagues, including backbenchers, and the heavy-handed approach to dissenting voices diminishes our politics.
He says he is resigning because he thinks it would have been “dishonourable and unprincipled” to stay in post having lost confidence in Starmer. He says:
These are all good reasons for me to remain in post, but as you know from our conversation earlier this week, having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to do so.
He says the Labour defeats were unprecedented, and that the prospect of Reform UK winning the next election is “a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great”. He says:
Last week’s election results were unprecedented – both in terms of the scale of the defeat and the consequences of that failure. For the first time in our country’s history, nationalists are in power in every corner of the United Kingdom – including a dangerous English nationalism represented by Nigel Farage and Reform UK. This represents both an existential threat to the future integrity of the United Kingdom, but Reform UK also represent a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great. Progressives across our country understand this threat and our responsibility to confront it, but they are increasingly losing faith that the Labour party is capable of rising to our historic responsibility of defeating racism and offering hope that Britain’s best days lie ahead through social democracy.
He says Labour needs to offer “a bold vision and bigger solutions than we are offering”. He says:
As a member of your government, I know better than most that governing is hard. It should be, because it matters. There are enormous challenges facing this country. For the first time in our history the next generation faces a worse inheritance than the last. We have wars raging in Europe and the Middle East that are making our challenges harder, not easier. We are in the foothills of a technological industrial revolution that has huge implications for every aspect of our lives – not least the future of work. It is not clear whether democracy or tyranny will define the 21st century. After the financial crisis, austerity, the disaster of Brexit, Liz Truss, the Covid pandemic, the war in Ukraine and now the war in Iran, the country needs to believe again that things can be better than this and that politics is part of the answer, not the source of the problem. These are big challenges that require a bold vision and bigger solutions than we are offering.
He says the NHS England performance figues out today (see 10.42am) show that he has a record of achievement. He says:
I’ve delivered against the ambitious targets you set for me when I became your secretary of state for health and social care. Today’s figures confirm that we surpassed our waiting times target despite strikes, and that waiting lists fell by 110,000 in March – the biggest monthly drop outside of Covid since 2008 – meaning that we are on track to achieve the fastest improvement in NHS waiting times in history.
Updated
Wes Streeting resigns
Wes Streeting has resigned.
Here is Heather Stewart’s explainer on the HMRC investigation into Angela Rayner’s stamp duty error.
How HMRC investigation found Rayner's stamp duty error was in least serious category
It is worth clarifying the HMRC finding about Angela Rayner’s stamp duty error; her mistake was in the least serious category.
HMRC has three categories of error: errors made despite taking reasonable care; careless errors; and deliberate errors. (Within deliberate errors, there are two categories: deliberate and concealed; deliberate but not concealed.)
Rayner’s mistake was in the “despite taking reasonable care” category.
Speaking to ITV about the HMRC ruling, she said:
They’ve said that there wasn’t any wrongdoing and that I didn’t try to avoid paying tax or I wasn’t careless in the way in which I conducted myself at the time when I was in government.
HMRC says:
Where the error was made despite taking reasonable care, and is adjusted under the error correction regime in the return for the period of discovery, we treat the person as having taken reasonable steps to inform us of the inaccuracy and no penalty will be due.
Updated
Streeting in standoff with No 10 as allies claim ‘things are shifting’
Wes Streeting is locked in a standoff with No 10 as allies claimed he had the numbers to launch a leadership challenge but still hoped Keir Starmer would resign, Jessica Elgot reports. She says:
The health secretary had been widely expected to launch a challenge on Thursday and has told supporters he has the backing of the 81 MPs required to launch a formal contest. A source close to Streeting said he had the numbers but “things are shifting”.
But allies said he was still hoping not to have to move against Starmer directly and that more and more MPs were privately asking the prime minister to resign or set out a departure timetable.
Cabinet ministers told the Guardian it was untrue that they were planning to ask Starmer to go on Thursday afternoon, accusing Streeting’s supporters of trying to “brief resignations into existence”.
Here is Jess’s full story.
Starmer/Streeting/Labour leadership: lobby latest on what on earth might be going on
Here is some comment from political journalists prompted by the latest “things are shifting” briefing from the Wes Streeting camp this morning. (See 11.20am.)
From Steven Swinford at the Times
Totally surreal situation now:
Wes Streeting was preparing to launch today but may now delay because he is said to be struggling to get the numbers. His people deny this - they say he has the numbers - but say that things have changed and more cabinet ministers are going over the top and pressing for Starmer to go. But...
Keir Starmer insists he is going nowhere. The number calling for him to go remains at 92 - where it’s been for the last 24 hours - equivalent to nearly a third of backbenchers. His allies say that good news on economy and NHS makes his case for him. He is going fo fight on ….
None of this is remotely sustainable. How can you have a senior Cabinet minister publicly positioning himself for a run at Number 10? How can you have a third of backbenchers publicly calling for the PM to go.
From Alex Wickham at Bloomberg
[The Streeting briefing] suggests to me Streeting is holding off from making his move until more cabinet ministers and MPs call for Starmer to go. And they may say they have the numbers but they haven’t yet proved it.
Wickham also says ministers are disputing the claim from the Streeting camp that cabinet ministers are telling Starmer to go.
People familiar with the thinking of at least four cabinet ministers, including those close to both Streeting and Burnham, immediately DENY this claim by Streeting’s camp that they’ll go to Starmer today to tell him to go
From Rob Powell at Sky
Are we stuck in the Streeting Catch-22? Avoiding the accusation of putting personal ambition above national interest means not being the one to trigger the race. But staying silent amid the lack of anyone else triggering it is not exactly politically beneficial either.
From Robert Peston at ITV
Those close to Streeting say he has more than 81 nominations and could trigger a leadership contest. But they believe Streeting’s announcement could be pre-empted by the PM announcing a timetable for his departure, even today.
This could all be feverish wishful thinking. But I have been told by less partisan government sources that we are “in the end game”.
From Adam Boulton from Times Radio
In a nutshell, Labour MPs nearly all want someone other than @Keir_Starmer but they don’t know who that is.
No 10 says Streeting still health secretary, and PM still has confidence in him
The Downing Street lobby briefing has just finished. Wes Streeting is still health secretary, and the PM still has full confidence in him, the PM’s spokesperson said. The spokersperson said the situation had not changed since yesterday, he said.
Ben Quinn is a Guardian political correspondent.
Nigel Farage is facing a formal investigation over a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, parliament’s standards watchdog formally confirmed today.
The Reform UK leader’s name has been published on the website of the parliamentary commissioner for standards, which states he is being investigated over an alleged “failure to declare an interest”.
The probe was opened yesterday according to the entry, which confirms he is being investigated under rule 5 of the code of conduct for MPs. Rule 5 of the code of conduct obliges MPs to “fulfil conscientiously” requirements relating to their registration of interests.
Farage is one of five MPs who are currently the focus of ongoing investigations by the standards watchdog, although he is the only one being probed under rule 5.
Updated
Wes Streeting’s allies have been briefing journalists. This is from Alex Wickham at Bloomberg, but other lobby correspondents are being given the same message.
Supporters of Wes Streeting claim he has the numbers BUT they say “things are shifting”
They claim MPs who signed the loyalty letter told the PM last night he has to go
They claim cabinet ministers are going in to Downing Street today tell Starmer to go
They claim Darren Jones is telling MPs the PM is going to go
Ed Davey accuses Streeting of having 'dire track record' at NHS, saying 12-hour A&E waits up 20% since 2024
The Liberal Democrats say Wes Streeting should not be celebrating the NHS England performance figures out today. They are focusing on the figures for waits lasting more than 12 hours in A&E departments.
According to the Press Association, the number of people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E departments in England from a decision to admit to actually being admitted stood at 47,750 in April, up slightly from 46,665 in March, NHS figures indicate. The figure reached a record 71,517 people in January.
The Lib Dems says:
220,581 A&E patients have had to wait over 12 hours from decision to admit to admission, such as on a corridor or in a plastic chair, so far this year. That number is the worst on record. The equivalent period in 2025 saw 20,000 fewer patients face this ordeal, and is up by nearly 40,000 on the equivalent point in 2024. This means that since Labour took office the numbers facing degrading trolley waits has increased by over 20%.
Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said:
The devastating A&E statistics this morning prove that Wes Streeting has been too busy measuring the curtains in Number 10 to turn our NHS around.
This is a dire track record for any minister with plans to take the top job. Labour’s management of our NHS has been a walking policy disaster.
Kevin Schofield, political editor at HuffPost UK, says a Wes Streeting leadership challenge is now looking more unlikely.
Looking increasingly unlikely that Wes Streeting will challenge Keir Starmer today.
Some in his team are not convinced he has the 81 supporters locked in to formally launch a contest.
Suspicion that Angela Rayner’s announcement this morning that she’s been cleared by HMRC is also making Streeting think twice.
(Readers may be getting fed up with the uncertainty. You’re not alone; journalists would like a bit of certainty too.)
Streeting says NHS England has achieved biggest single-month cut in waiting lists in 17 years
Wes Streeting hasn’t resigned yet – because he has just issued a statement about the NHS England waiting figures.
He said:
Our plan for the NHS is working. This is the biggest cut in waiting lists in a single month in 17 years.
It means we are right on track to deliver the fastest reduction in waiting times in the history of the NHS.
That is thanks to the Government’s investment, modernisation, and the remarkable efforts of staff right across the country.
Lots done, lots more to do.
Here is the NHS England news release about the figures. Confusingly, the figures it quotes don’t seem to match the claim Streeting is making. It says “the waiting list fell by over 312,000 last year, the largest year-on-year reduction in 16 years”. I’m seeking clarification as to why Streeting described the figures differently.
UPDATE: NHS England says that, when Streeting refers to the biggest single-month drop in 17 years, he was referring to figures showing that there was a 110,000 drop in the waiting list in March – the biggest individual monthly drop in 17 years.
Updated
Cleared by HMRC, Angela Rayner says Labour must deliver change – video
Here is a clip from Pippa Crerar’s inteview with Angela Rayner.
Ed Miliband, the energy secreratary and Labour leader from 2010 to 2015, has also told some colleagues that, in the right circumstances, he could stand for the leadership, Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt reports. Publicly, Miliband has said he won’t stand again. But soft-left Labour are in a panic over who would be their candidate in the event of Wes Streeting launching a contest. Broadly, they don’t want to back Starmer, because they think he will lose the next election; they like Andy Burnham, but are not confident he will be a candidate; and they have reservations about Angela Rayner, another potential ‘stop Streeting’ option.
Defence minister Al Carns does not deny wanting to enter any Labour leadership contest
Al Carns, the defence minister first elected in 2024, will launch his own leadership bid if a contest starts, Sky News is reporting.
Asked about this last night, Carns told Sky: “I’m just a humble junior minister.”
He is certainly a junior minister. But colleagues may query the “humble” bit. Carns had an impressive career in the military, but to consider standing to be PM after only two years in the Commons is hubristic, and may be unprecedented.
Carns has written an article for the New Statesman setting out his response to the election results. It does not say anything about policy, but it does tell you a bit about Al Carns. “I grew up in Aberdeen in a working-class family with a single mum,” he says.
Here’s an extract.
Unless Labour understands that insecurity on an emotional level as well as on an economic one, we will continue to lose voters who would naturally align with us. Working-class voters have not simply left Labour. Many feel Labour stopped understanding their lives, and so they looked elsewhere.
What is the point of Labour if it does not represent Sheffield, Stoke-on-Trent, Barnsley, Swansea and Aberdeen? What is the point of the Labour party if it cannot replace despair and frustration with hope, stability and purpose? The party was founded to give ordinary working people security, dignity and bargaining power over their lives.
That is exactly what I believe, and it must be our mission again. We do not need more slogans, strategies, press releases or commissions. We need action.
Updated
According to a story by David Maddox for the Independent, “as many as five other ministers, all allies of [Wes] Streeting, are on a resignation watchlist”.
But so far this morning there is no sign yet of Streeting launching his much-talked-about leadership bid.
Wes Streeting is deeply unpopular on the Labour left. This morning Richard Burgon, secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group in parliament, has posted a message saying that, if Streeting does launch a leadership bid today, he will be ignoring the wishes of Labour-affiliated trade unions. Burgon said:
Wes Streeting launching a leadership bid today would be deliberately flying in the face of this joint statement from all of Labour’s affiliated trade unions for an orderly transition.
Dismissing our trade unions like this will not help us learn the lessons or help us stop Farage
In an interview with BBC Radio Scotland this morning, Douglas Alexander, the Scottish secretary, stressed that, for all the speculation, Wes Streeting has still not triggered a leadership contest.
Alexander said:
The prime minister has my support, I am a member of the cabinet.
I think for all of the speculation, for all of the headlines, it’s worth holding on to the fact we’ve seen twists and turns in this drama even in recent days. There’s a process by which a challenge to the Labour party leadership can be conducted, and that process simply hasn’t been triggered this morning.
Alexander may have been reflecting scepticism in No 10 about whether Wes Streeting really does have the support of 80 Labour MPs that he will need to get a contest started. In a report for the Financial Times, Jim Pickard, Lucy Fisher and George Parker also pick up these doubts. They say:
One cabinet minister loyal to Starmer claimed Streeting did not have the numbers. “All the effort now has to go into stopping him getting to 81 names and he’s currently only on about 30,” they said. “The herd is not as big as he thinks it is.”
One former Tory Downing Street adviser said MPs could be notoriously unreliable in chaotic leadership situations. “If it was me I’d want 130 names to be sure of 81,” he added.
Last night Tony Diver from the Telegraph claimed that Streeting’s allies were telling Labour MPs they could nominate Streeting and then switch support to another candidate.
In response, the Labour MP Luke Akehurst, a member of Labour’s national executive committee, pointed out that this is not correct. An MP who nominates a candidate for leader can only withdraw their name to nominate someone else if the person they nominated originally withdraws.
(There is nothing to stop an MP nominating one candidate but then actually voting for another candidate. But, at the voting stage, the vote an MP carries no more weight than the vote of any other party member; it won’t make much difference. MPs have most power at the point when they can nominate someone to get them on the ballot.)
Tracy Brabin, the Labour mayor of West Yorkshire, was also on the Today programme this morning. She said she met Keir Starmer yesterday and had a “frank conversation” with him about how the government needed to do better. She said Labour would have to “escalate the pace of change”. She was rather non-committal about whether she wanted this to happen with Starmer remaining leader but, when asked if he should go, she said that currently there was no leadership contest and that she had “no horse in this race”.
She also summed up her message in a post on social media.
Minister urges Labour MPs to 'step back' from supporting leadership contest
James Murray, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has been the No 10 voice on the airwaves this morning.
In an interview on the Today programme, he urged Labour colleagues to “step back” from supporting a leadership contest. He said:
I would say to all colleagues, take a deep breath. Take a step back.
Make sure that we recognise we’re less than two years into this parliament. Look at what we’ve done so far. Look at the benefits of the stability that we brought to government, make sure that we don’t go into a chaotic process of uncertainty, and make sure we focus on what people want us to be doing.
Asked about Wes Streeting, Murray said:
He is the health secretary, and I hope he is the health secretary by the end of the day.
UK economy records surprise 0.3% growth in first month of the Iran war
The UK economy unexpectedly grew during the first full month of the Iran war, according to official figures, suggesting the Middle East conflict has not yet affected growth as much as feared, Tom Knowles reports.
Reeves suggests Labour leadership contest could put economic recovery at risk
Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, spoke to reporters this morning after the growth figures were released. She claimed that a Labour leadership contest would put economic recovery at risk. She said:
Labour MPs have got an important decision to make today, but the numbers show that the economy is growing and that when we entered this conflict [the Iran war], our economy was growing strongly because of the decisions that I have made as chancellor. We shouldn’t put that at risk.
In her interview with ITV, Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, said she would not be making a pact with Andy Burnham to challenge Keir Starmer. “I’m not doing deals or anything like that,” she said.
Good morning. Today it looks as though the phoney Labour leadership contest that has been bubbling away at least since Sunday may finally turn into a real one. Westminster is braced for Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to announce that he is standing – although journalists are not yet 100% certain it will happen.
This morning, in a joint scoop, the Guardian and ITV had news that could affect Streeting’s calculations. As Pippa Crerar reports, Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, has been cleared by HMRC of deliberate wrongdoing or carelessness over her tax affairs.
In an interview with Pippa, Rayner said that she would not challenge Starmer herself. But she said she wanted to see change, “action, not just words”. Asked whether Starmer should step aside, she said: “Keir will have to reflect on that.”
If there is a contest, Rayner did not rule out being a candidate, but she also hinted that she might back someone else. She said:
I’ll play my part in doing everything we possibly can to deliver the change, because it’s not a personal ambition, I know the difference it makes. Whatever role I can play, I will keep pushing and pushing hard because I want the people out there at the moment who are really struggling … to know that I’m putting all my energy into fighting for them.
Rayner has hinted that she would be happy for Andy Burnham (who, like her, is on Labour’s soft-left wing – Streeting is identified with Labour’s right) to replace Starmer. But Burnham could only be a candidate if he can find a seat and return to the Commons in a byelection. We are expecting to hear more on that soon. Burnham has cancelled his regular weekly appearance on Radio Manchester saying he needs to prioritise “discussions arising from last week’s local elections”.
We don’t know when the possible main announcements for today – from Streeting and Burnham – might happen. But here are the events that are in the diary.
9.30am: NHS England publishes its monthly performance figures. Normally Streeting, as health secretary, records a short clip for broadcasters when they come out.
After 10.30am: MPs resume the king’s speech debate, focusing on economic growth.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
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Updated
