British Health Minister Wes Streeting announces his resignation amid political crisis in…

British Health Minister Wes Streeting announced his resignation this Thursday, May 14. He is a potential competitor to Keir Starmer at the head of the Labor Party and as Prime Minister. Keir Starmer, whose resignation is requested within his party, has suffered four resignations since the last local elections on May 7.

The fifth resignation in a few days. The British Minister of Health, Wes Streeting, announced his resignation on the social network X this Thursday, May 14, increasing the threat to the future of the Prime Minister.

In a long letter addressed directly to Keir Starmer, he explains that, despite “good reasons” to remain in office, he has “lost confidence in [son] leadership”, and that staying would therefore be “dishonourable” and “unscrupulous”. Wes Streeting is expected to compete for the leadership of the Labor Party and Downing Street.

For several days, the head of government has been fighting for his survival after local elections with disastrous results for Labor, following numerous controversies which had already weakened him.

“It is now clear that you will not lead the Labor Party to the next legislative elections”, scheduled for 2029, and “where we need a vision, there is a void”, continues the former minister. However, he has not confirmed his intention to run for the Labor leadership, and thus attempt to dethrone Keir Starmer himself.

Keir Starmer under pressure

The pressure on the Labor leader increased a notch at the start of the week when four state secretaries resigned, and 86 MPs from his party – out of a total of 403 – called on him to resign.

And to make matters worse, another Labor figure returned to the game this Thursday: Angela Rayner, Keir Starmer’s former number 2. Popular on the left of the party, she announced that she had been “cleared of any wrongdoing” in a tax affair which led to her resignation in September.

The 46-year-old former Deputy Prime Minister admitted to having underpaid tax by purchasing her home, and was found guilty of violating the ministerial code. The British tax authorities, however, “exonerated her from the accusation” according to which she had “deliberately sought to evade tax”, she declared on Thursday on X.

Several Labor figures considered to take the head of the party

Asked about a potential candidacy, Angela Rayner ruled out the possibility of opening the hostilities herself: “I was clear on the fact that I was not going to challenge the Prime Minister”, she declared to the newspaper The Guardian, affirming however that Starmer had to “think” about the possibility of withdrawing.

However, she expressed her desire to “play (her) role”, suggesting that she could join the race if another Labor official took the plunge.

“What we are doing is not working, and that needs to change,” she conceded after Labor’s crushing failure in the local elections.

Under party rules, any candidate would have to obtain the support of 81 Labor MPs – or 20% of Labor’s membership in Parliament – to trigger an internal election. If Wes Streeting is appreciated on the right of Labour, he is poorly seen by MPs on the left wing, who support Angela Rayner or the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.

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There is, however, a major obstacle for Andy Burnham: the 56-year-old councilor, Labour’s most popular political figure, must first be elected to Westminster in a by-election, before being allowed to take part in a vote to elect the new leader. Plowing.

The name of Al Carns, a 46-year-old former naval officer and MP for Birmingham, also comes up in the press. According to the Times, he would be ready to enter the race “if anyone kicks off.”

Keir Starmer once again displayed his determination to remain in Downing Street on Wednesday during the debate which followed the king’s traditional speech in the House of Commons. He spoke at length at the end of the day with ministers and deputies from his camp in Parliament, while members of his government urged some of their Labor colleagues not to plunge the party into chaos.