London: The warring factions are set for a tough fight for the Labor leadership after a brief pause to hear King Charles address the British parliament, with the government in disarray and a senior minister, Wes Streeting, set to seek the top job.
All parties paused to listen to the King’s speech at the opening of parliament in Westminster on Wednesday morning despite turmoil over the direction of the government, as the monarch read aloud a political agenda that may not survive a leadership leak.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is challenging his rivals to call a formal contest if they want to remove him from office, declaring that he was elected by the voting public in a general election and will stay focused on his job.
Streeting, the Health Secretary, met Starmer for around 20 minutes in Downing Street on Wednesday morning (late Wednesday AEST) to discuss the leadership, but made no public statement about his plans in the hours after their talks.
Once the king addressed parliament, Streeting’s allies informed the British press of his intention to launch a challenge as early as the next day.
The moves continue long-running ploys being used to pressure Starmer after a devastating defeat to Labor candidates in last Thursday’s local and regional elections, but Streeting faced fresh pressure in parliament over his leadership moves.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch attacked the Health Secretary during questions in the House of Commons when she accused the government of being slow to deliver on its promises to fix the National Health Service.
“I guess the Health Secretary has been a bit distracted lately, hasn’t he? Why don’t you do your job? Do your job,” Badenoch told Streeting on the other side of the camera, while responding inaudibly.
“There’s no point in looking at me badly,” he added. “We all know what he’s been doing.”
Streeting, 43, is a centrist who was president of the National Union of Students from 2008 to 2010, became a local councilor in a north London ward in 2010 and entered parliament in 2015. He has been health secretary since Labor won the general election in 2024.
The other main leadership contender with regular media coverage, Andy Burnham, is the mayor of Greater Manchester and a key figure on the left, but he is not in parliament.
Burnham would be at a serious disadvantage in a leadership contest if Streeting acted quickly, before any MP could volunteer to give up their seat in the House of Commons so that Burnham could stand in a by-election.
Labor rules state that a challenger must obtain the support of 20 percent of the parliamentary party to launch a challenge. The party has 403 members in the House of Commons, meaning Streeting needs 81 to back him in a formal letter to the party’s general secretary, Hollie Ridley, a Starmer ally. This would trigger a leadership election among thousands of party members.
As each side prepared for an all-out contest, Starmer’s office gave a cautious response when The times He was asked if he thought ministers would still be in place at the end of the week.
“The prime minister has full confidence in his cabinet,” a spokesman told the newspaper. This was reported as an expression of confidence in Streeting.
The telegraph of London reported on its front page on May 2 that Streeting already had more than 80 behind him and was “prepared to challenge” Starmer, but the race has moved slowly since the rejection in the May 7 election.
In London on Wednesday (late Wednesday night, AEST), several media outlets reported that Streeting would challenge Starmer the following day.
Despite months of speculation, Streeting has made no public statement about his intentions or agenda if he were to become leader. Instead, his allies have briefed the media to discuss their support, which remains unproven.
Starmer’s supporters have attempted to fend off the challenge by issuing a letter of support backed by 110 MPs, while the prime minister has promoted allies to replace four junior ministers who resigned on Wednesday and appear to be aligned with Streeting.
Burnham’s supporters have expressed hope for looser fiscal rules that would allow for more spending, but financial markets are sending a strong signal about investor concerns about government borrowing and political instability.
The yield on a 10-year UK government bond fell slightly to 5.07 per cent on Wednesday afternoon (around 3am Thursday AEST). This is a broad measure of the government’s borrowing costs on its public debt, and has risen from around 4.7 percent a year ago.
Government public sector net debt It is about 2.8 trillion pounds sterling (about 5.2 trillion dollars) and represents 94 percent of GDP.
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David Crowe is European correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via unknown either email.
