Wes Streeting warned against expensive Labour leadership pledges and said he has the MP support needed to challenge Keir Starmer.
Wes Streeting has warned Labour against turning a possible leadership contest into a competition for costly promises, saying he would not make campaign pledges that he would later have to reverse in government.
The former health secretary used a speech in central London to present himself as a fiscally disciplined contender if Sir Keir Starmer faces a challenge. He said any race should not become a contest over who could offer “the most expensive and popular pledges to the party faithful at the expense of the British people.”
The intervention sharpens an emerging divide among senior Labour figures as questions grow around Starmer’s leadership. Streeting and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham have both said they would stand in a contest to replace Starmer as prime minister, though neither has confirmed whether they would initiate one.
Streeting told the BBC he had the support of the 81 Labour MPs needed to launch a leadership challenge, and later said there would be a contest. Speaking to reporters at the G7 summit in France, Starmer repeated that he did not intend to walk away and would continue with the job he was elected to do.
Streeting said he hoped the prime minister would reflect on his position after Thursday’s Makerfield by-election and set out a timetable for leaving. If Burnham wins the by-election and becomes an MP, he would be able to initiate or join a Labour leadership race, which he cannot do while serving only as Greater Manchester mayor.
In his speech, Streeting sought to define the economic terms of any future contest. He argued for growth, lower taxes when the public finances allow and a careful approach to government borrowing. He also warned against treating the bond markets as enemies, rejecting what he described as a reckless “stuff the bond markets” approach.
Burnham has previously argued that politics should move beyond being “in hock to the bond markets,” though earlier this year he also promised to keep to the government’s existing borrowing rules in an effort to reassure international investors.
Streeting, the MP for Ilford North, also said he would rule out an early general election if he became prime minister and would govern for the rest of the parliamentary term. He said the pensions triple lock would remain in place for the duration of this Parliament, repeated his call to equalise capital gains tax with income tax rates and suggested ministers should approve North Sea oil and gas projects at Rosebank and Jackdaw.
For now, Starmer is publicly insisting he will fight on. The next test in Labour’s internal argument is the Makerfield by-election, which could determine whether Burnham gains the parliamentary foothold needed to take part in any leadership contest.
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