The UK’s Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has resigned from Parliament.
The Labour MP for Ilford North has published a letter in an X post stating this intention.
The letter explains that he has lost confidence in Kier Starmer to lead the party.
In the letter, he points to the recent local election losses of the Labour Party as a major reason, with a lack of confidence that the Prime Minister can lead the party through the next general election.
Streeting met with the Prime Minister yesterday, it is now known that this was the topic of conversation: “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."
The letter also heavily emphasises Streeting’s recent wins for the NHS, meeting targets set by the government.
He states:
- Waiting lists fell by 110,000 in March, the biggest monthly drop outside of COVID-19 since 2008.
- 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.
- Recruited 2,000 more GPs and satisfaction has risen from 60% to 74.5% since we came to office
- Hit target of recruiting 8,500 mental health staff three years early
- Balancing the books for the first time in nine years, and “smashing the 2% NHS productivity target” by achieving 2.8%
The NHS has also just put forward its NHS Modernisation Bill for proposal, which includes the concept of a Single Patient Record.
Many outlets are now questioning whether Streeting will mount a challenge to the Prime Minister to take over the Labour Party.
No clear statement has been made on this at this time.