As Rayner and Burnham plotted, Streeting realised it was now or never

Party’s Left wing fears a Blue Labour stitch-up if leadership contest is rushed through Daily Telegraph 10/05/26 Allies of Wes Streeting say that he is planning, but not plotting, to take on the leadership of the Labour Party. This week could be the moment when he has to decide whether to throw his hat into the ring – or rue the day he missed the chance. On Sunday afternoon, the need for urgency became clearer than ever.

In a much-anticipated intervention, Angela Rayner attacked the “toxic culture of cronyism” in Sir Keir’s Downing Street and hinted at a possible pact with Andy Burnham, the other darling of the Labour Left. In a sign that the two potential leadership contenders could now be working together, she urged Sir Keir to allow Mr Burnham to return to Parliament from his current role as mayor of Manchester – a move that could pave the way for the pair to launch a joint ticket to run the country. The stage is now set for a leadership contest that would pitch Mr Streeting as the candidate of the Labour Right against whoever emerges from the party’s Left. The Health Secretary’s hopes of taking over from Sir Keir Starmer have been buoyed by the prospect of a leadership contest prompted by the decision of Catherine West, a backbencher and former minister, to launch her own unlikely “stalking horse” challenge to become prime minister. Her move blew open the potential leadership race. Allies of Mr Streeting indicated that he was not planning to challenge Sir Keir directly, but was preparing a “case” for a leadership bid in case it “all falls apart” and a contest is triggered by another candidate. It came as Sir Keir’s hold on the leadership looked ever more perilous with over 40 MPs having called for the Prime Minister either to quit or to set a timetable for his departure. They were joined on Sunday by Josh Simons, a loyalist former minister who helped Sir Keir to election victory as director of Labour Together. In one of the most significant interventions since Labour’s wipeout in Thursday’s council elections, Mr Simons said the Prime Minister must set out a timetable for his departure because he has “lost the country” and is incapable of “rising to this moment”. He was joined by Sharon Graham, Unite’s general secretary, who became the most prominent trade union leader to call on Sir Keir to quit, following the leaders of Unison, the public services union, and the TSSA, its transport equivalent. So frayed are tempers that Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, and her sister, Ellie Reeves, a fellow Labour MP, are said to have argued at a children’s party over whether Mr Burnham should be allowed to return to Parliament. With pressure building on Sir Keir, this could be Mr Streeting’s moment as a standard bearer of the Labour Right – especially as the soft Left is manoeuvring to thwart any leadership bid by him. In Parliament, Ms Rayner and Mr Burnham would provide a powerful pairing on the Left. But timing is not on their side as the pair’s leadership ambitions are hampered by circumstances beyond their control. Ms Rayner is still awaiting the outcome of an HMRC inquiry into her tax affairs. She quit the Cabinet last year after a Telegraph investigation revealed she failed to pay £40,000 in stamp duty owed on the purchase of her seaside flat. As Manchester mayor, Mr Burnham cannot stand for the leadership until he has a seat in Parliament, a path until now blocked by Sir Keir and which has been made harder by the surge in support for Nigel Farage’s Reform party in the north west of England. The threat of a “coronation” of a leader like Mr Streeting from the Labour Right explains why there were concerted moves by Mr Burnham’s allies and the Labour left to persuade Ms West not to force a contest this week. Andy Burnham and Catherine West Mr Burnham’s allies tried to persuade Catherine West, the potential ‘stalking horse’ candidate, not to force a leadership contest this week Many of his supporters are still trying to pour oil on the waters, insisting Sir Keir be given time to act as a unifying figure and urging all sides to remain calm. Richard Burgon, secretary of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs on the left, warned Ms West against supporting a “Cabinet stitch-up” to replace Sir Keir. “I fear there’s a real danger that, whatever her good intentions, her move will be exploited by people on the right of the party who want a coronation and not a proper democratic contest in the party,” he said. Both members of the socialist wing and soft Left of the party would prefer a Burnham or Rayner leadership. Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary and former Labour leader, has been accused by allies of Sir Keir of plotting to replace him with the Greater Manchester mayor. Sir Keir’s allies see Mr Miliband and Louise Haigh, an influential backbencher who has called on the Prime Minister to resign, as central to efforts to shore up support for Mr Burnham. Louise Haigh and Ed Miliband are seen by Starmer allies as key to Mr Burnham’s campaign Credit: Peter Nicholls/Getty One ally of Sir Keir suggested Mr Miliband was “on manoeuvres” and wanted to be a “kingmaker”, with the intention of becoming chancellor under a future soft-Left leader. On the eve of the local elections, it was reported that Mr Miliband had urged Sir Keir to set out a timetable for his orderly exit from Downing Street. Luke Akehurst, the MP for North Durham and a member of Labour’s national executive committee, said: “As someone who loyally supported Ed Miliband during his leadership, I hope he will show similar loyalty to Keir Starmer “We don’t need people moving against the Prime Minister or wanting to act as kingmaker. We’ve seen what constant leadership coups did to the previous Conservative government.” The rallying of the Labour Left will see Mainstream, a think tank formed with Mr Burnham’s backing, set out a 12,000 word vision for the political economy and recommend Sir Keir draw on the Manchester mayor’s approach in the city. Senior Labour figures are expected to endorse the essay when it is released this week. It will echo Ms Rayner who issued her 1,000 word statement on Sunday after participating in a Tough Mudder event in her constituency. “When the going gets tough…” she pointedly noted over pictures of participants crawling through mud and water. She called on the Prime Minister to go further to ensure young people could buy their own home, while also urging sweeping nationalisation and higher taxes on oil and gas giants. Ms Rayner said Sir Keir must “double down” on her renters’ rights reforms, give more powers to devolved regions and boost community and co-operative ownership of local assets. It is understood Mr Streeting has been preparing his plans for what he would do as Labour leader since a breakdown in relations with Sir Keir in January when No 10 briefed against him. After a series of public interventions criticising the “toxic culture” in No 10 and the direction of the Government, there were reports Sir Keir was coming under pressure from Cabinet ministers to sack Mr Streeting for disloyalty and putting his leadership ambitions before the party. Since then, Mr Streeting has reined in his criticism, declaring only six weeks ago that he did not want “to see Keir challenged in May. I don’t think that will happen” but at the same time not ruling out throwing his hat into the ring if there was a leadership race in the wake of catastrophic results. Given the collapse of the Labour vote in its northern heartlands in the face of Mr Farage’s turquoise wave, allies of Mr Streeting were also at pains to highlight how results in Redbridge, his local council, last Thursday demonstrated he has the capability to see off Reform. While Tameside council, which includes part of Ms Rayner’s constituency, fell to Mr Farage’s party, Labour held Redbridge with 43 of the 63 seats to Reform’s single newly elected councillor and just five seats taken by the Greens. One ally of Mr Streeting said: “This week has shown Wes can win. The results in Redbridge show that he can beat challengers on both the Left and Right. If there’s a contest, the next leader of the Labour Party has to be someone who can keep Farage out of No 10.” His critics have argued that his seat is so marginal – he had a majority of just 528 in 2024 – he would be an electoral risk as prime minister, his allies say that the Redbridge results show he is actually in a far safer position than many other contenders including Ms Rayner. As one Labour commentator noted on Sunday, many politicians have missed their moment by hesitating. Not least in 1968 when Roy Jenkins “bottled” a leadership challenge against a deeply unpopular Harold Wilson after the devaluation of the pound. It was followed by Labour falling to a catastrophic election defeat two years later. Frustration at the failure of any senior Labour figure to take the fight to Sir Keir underpinned Ms West’s decision to stand for the leadership herself. She accused the Cabinet – and other Labour figures – of effectively bottling it. “The level of inertia in the face of the election defeat that we saw on Thursday is a disgrace. Working people sent us a message on Thursday, we have to listen to that, and we have to change and we have to do it quickly,” she said. “We have to lay out a timetable, and we have to turn this ship around…to face Reform. We need to take them on. We need to prove that we deserve to lead this country.”