Wes Streeting Says Andy Burnham Might Not Be PM If Resigned

Andy Burnham would “probably” not be prime minister if Wes Streeting had not resigned from the cabinet, the defence secretary has claimed.

Streeting said his decision to quit as health secretary in May had “forced” other ministers to speak out against Keir Starmer’s leadership.

Speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, he said he had given up his own plan to run for the Labour leadership after realising that there weren’t enough “fundamental differences” between him and Burnham.

Streeting quit Starmer’s cabinet in the wake of the May 7 elections, which saw Labour thrashed in England, Wales and Scotland.

In a ferocious resignation letter, he said he had “lost confidence” in the then prime minister’s leadership.

He said: “It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour unions want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism.

“It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope that you will facilitate this.”

Despite repeatedly insisting that he had enough support to enter the leadership race, Streeting announced he would not run in the wake of Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election in June.

Asked whether he thought Burnham would be PM if he had not resigned as health secretary, Streeting said: “Probably not.”

He added: “What I think my resignation did that week was force choices for others.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Streeting also revealed he has received an “unbelievable volume” of homophobic abuse online since becoming defence secretary.

He said it was clear that many people online “cannot cope with the idea” of a gay man in the role.

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