Streeting confirms he will challenge Starmer for the leadership

Wes Streeting has declared he will enter any Labour leadership race that emerges if pressure on Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Keir Starmer results in a contest to replace him.

“The party needs a genuine contest with the strongest candidates in the field, and I’ll be one of them,” he told reporters at a conference in central London.

Mr Streeting, who stepped down as health secretary earlier this week, said he had enough backing among Labour MPs to get into the race. But he argued that any challenge would be weakened if rival Andy Burnham were denied a route back into Parliament.

Addressing the Progress think tank conference, he said: “Firstly, I do have support in the parliamentary party, but this week I also had a choice.

“That might have suited candidates who are already in Parliament, but it would not have served the party and it would not have served the country.”

Mr Streeting is one of several senior Labour figures urging a wider argument over the party’s direction, as it reels from a punishing run of election results across England, Scotland and Wales.

Burnham prepared to ‘fight to the highest level’

Mr Burnham has been cleared to seek selection for the Makerfield by-election.

He has said he is ready to “fight to the highest level”, as he and other senior Labour figures manoeuvre over who could lead the party next.

Mr Streeting criticised what he described as an “overcautiousness” inside Labour, saying the habit took hold while the party was in opposition and then followed it into Government.

“Rather than testing ideas and kicking the tyres, debate came to be treated as division and closed down,” he said.

The Ilford North MP added: “That’s why we need a proper contest where all candidates can put their best foot forward.

“It has to be a battle of ideas, so that whoever wins is stronger by the end of it.”

Andy Burnham has said that a ‘big change moment is needed’

Later in his speech, Mr Streeting outlined what amounted to an early blueprint for a leadership bid of his own.

The first of three big policy themes he raised was a closer relationship with Europe. He told the conference: “We need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe – and one day back in the European Union.”

Mr Streeting also called for a broader argument about “what type of capitalism [do] we want” and how Britain generates growth and shares in its rewards.

His third point was that Britain must not accept “the destruction of shared truth” as unavoidable. He said the country should look back to the creation of the BBC during the media upheavals of the early 20th century as a model for how to “take the pen back” from Silicon Valley social media bosses.

Mr Streeting is among those backing Mr Burnham’s push to contest the coming by-election, triggered after Josh Simons announced he would step down as an MP to allow Mr Burnham a path back to Westminster.

‘Big change moment is needed’

Mr Burnham told Channel 4 News this morning that his immediate focus was on returning to Parliament, not on removing Mr Starmer as Prime Minister.

“It’s just not the issue. The issue is winning. Winning a by-election with what I’m saying, you know, it’s not about, you know, necessarily the next thing,” he said.

But Mr Burnham said he had “made a whole career fighting for people in this part of the world”, before adding: “I’ve taken that fight to another level as mayor and yes, I will carry on taking that fight to the highest level.”

He also said British politics had reached a “big change moment”, after Labour suffered bruising election setbacks in England, Scotland and Wales.

Applications for Labour’s Makerfield candidacy close on Monday and the NEC will endorse a candidate on Thursday.

18 June is thought to be the earliest date a by-election could take place.

Andy Burnham said his focus is on winning a seat in Parliament, rather than ousting Keir Starmer

If he wins the seat, Mr Burnham is widely expected to mount a challenge to Mr Starmer for the party leadership.

Although Makerfield is usually regarded as safe Labour territory, the party is braced for a serious test from Reform UK this time.

At the 2024 general election, Mr Simons won by just 5,399 votes over Nigel Farage’s party.

Since then, Labour’s collapse in the polls and Reform’s rise have flipped the political landscape.

Still, Mr Burnham may draw strength from his personal support across the north west, where pollster Ipsos gives him a net favourability rating of 24% – far higher than any party leader or the Labour Party itself.

Candidate selection contests are already under way for Reform UK and the Greens.