Until a few days ago, the most obvious ‘secret’ in British politics was that Robert Jenrick was angling to join Reform. Now that Jenrick has joined Reform, the most blatant truth is that Wes Streeting aims to replace Keir Starmer as PM. It’s so obvious that Starmer’s team are now screaming ‘this is obvious*!*‘ at anyone who’ll listen:
NEW: Cabinet Ministers are urging Keir Starmer to sack Wes Streeting for being disloyal
“What he’s doing is so obvious, he is repeatedly breaching collective responsibility, he is attacking Number 10, he is undermining all of us”
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) January 16, 2026
Obvious-Wesley
As reported by the Times, an unnamed cabinet minister told them:
Everyone knows he has MPs from the 2024 intake telling anyone who’ll listen that it’s time to get rid of Keir and make Wes PM instead…
It’s wild behaviour. If he doesn’t bring it to a head, he’ll have to be brought to heel.
Another said:
Wes is exactly the same as he was when he was 18 … If he doesn’t become Labour prime minister he will tell himself his entire life has been a failure. Everything he’s doing now is in pursuit of that aim. Has he been pushing the boundary of what’s acceptable? Yes.
It’s interesting to hear that Streeting thinks he’ll be a failure if he doesn’t become PM. Personally, we think there’s a good chance he could become PM and still be a failure, much like we’ve seen with Starmer:
Keir Starmer’s approval rating has fallen to net -46, his joint lowest score ever.
It matches Theresa May’s historic low in May 2019.
A difficult start to 2026 for the prime minister. pic.twitter.com/x6Lv9UElk2
— Opinium (@OpiniumResearch) January 10, 2026
Responding to the latest round of ‘briefing’, Streeting issued his own response via a spokesperson:
It’s a real shame that Keir’s so-called allies are briefing against Wes yet again, when they should be talking about the second biggest fall in waiting lists in 15 years, and ambulances arriving 15 minutes faster with Labour.
Given Reform and the Tories are at each other’s throats right now this briefing is also incredibly stupid. Wes is delivering real change in the NHS, and is out there making the case for Keir and for Labour.
Arguably, you could say this response is itself an attempt to position himself as being more prime ministerial than Starmer. A more paranoid person might even think this briefing is being coordinated to benefit Streeting.
As the Times note, these briefings have previously given Streeting an opportunity to differentiate himself from Starmer’s operation:
Streeting has become increasingly outspoken in voicing his concerns about the direction of the government. In November he accused Starmer of presiding over a “toxic culture” in No 10 after allies of the prime minister briefed against him. Last month he said the government risked presenting itself as the “maintenance department for the country”.
This week he made a series of interventions, arguing in one speech that the government needed to “get it right first time” after a succession of U-turns, in comments that were interpreted as an attack on Starmer by colleagues.
Streeting — here we go again
Reports of Streeting gunning for Starmer are nothing new, as Rachel Charlton-Dailey reported for the Canary in November last year:
Just as we were all getting ready for bed last night, some news broke on social media. As tweeted by many corporate media journalists, including Alex Wickham of Bloomberg, Wes Streeting is allegedly planning to oust Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Wickham tweeted that there were “a series of furious briefings to media outlets” last night from Number 10, which he says suggest Starmer is worried about a leadership challenge from Streeting.
Reportedly, a government source told Wickham:
Number Ten has gone into full bunker mode, turning on their most loyal cabinet members for absolutely no reason. Unfortunately, there is a pattern of Keir’s team briefing against his own people – they did it to Angela, Lisa, Lucy, now it’s Wes’s turn. A circular firing squad won’t help the government out of the hole we’re in.
As you no doubt realise, nothing came of this.
You may also notice the panicked response from ‘government insiders’ is very similar to the panicked response we’re seeing today. Obviously, this begs the question: are they panicking that Streeting is going to challenge Starmer, or are they panicking because he’s taking so long to get the ball rolling?
After all, it would make all the sense in the world for the sociopathic centrists surrounding Starmer to replace the lame duck PM they have for a dead-eyed privatisation fetishist like Streeting.
We also reported on this from Zack Polanski:
So Wes Streeting allies want him to become Prime Minister – for the Labour Government to tank even faster.
We don’t have time to play these silly games – people are suffering now.
Keep growing the alternative – they need replacing.https://t.co/0qbagSwgNX pic.twitter.com/0i1LYHdCBr
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) November 14, 2025
We’re inclined to agree with this given that Streeting has blamed recent electoral failings on Labour not privatising things fast enough. For reference, this is what the public think about privatisation:
In it to win it
Will Streeting eventually run to be the Labour leader?
Almost certainly.
Will he win such a race?
Quite possibly.
Will he be popular or effective in office?
Absolutely not.
Make no mistake; Streeting is offering continuity dead-end centrism at a moment when the public is united in their loathing of wishy washy half measures that benefit no one besides private corporations.
The question isn’t whether Labour will elevate Streeting, it’s whether they have any MPs who could offer a genuine alternative.
Featured image via UK Prime Minister (Wikimedia)
By Willem Moore
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