Wes Streeting quits and calls for Starmer to resign

LONDON — Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the cabinet on 14 May 2026 and urged Sir Keir Starmer to step down as prime minister, opening a Labour leadership fight days after the party lost roughly 1,500 councillor seats in local elections.

In a resignation letter obtained by The Guardian, Streeting wrote that he had “lost confidence in your leadership” and that “it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to remain in post.”

Streeting, the standard-bearer of Labour’s Blairite right, has told allies he has the backing of 81 MPs — the threshold required under party rules to trigger a formal leadership contest, ITV News reported. More than 93 Labour MPs have already called on Starmer to resign or set a departure timetable. Starmer is refusing to go. “We can’t let a leadership contest plunge us into chaos. A challenge would 100 per cent do that,” he said, according to The Guardian.

Four ministers have quit the government since the crisis began. In his letter, Streeting said Labour MPs and unions “want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism.”

The same day, former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was cleared by HMRC over her tax affairs, The Guardian reported. The ruling removes a legal cloud that had hung over her prospects as a challenger.

Rayner is seen as the strongest candidate from Labour’s left if she chooses to run.

The 10-year UK gilt yield fell 3 basis points to 5.04 per cent as bond markets priced in the political uncertainty, CNBC reported.

The crisis began after Labour’s heavy losses in the 7 May local elections. The party shed roughly 1,500 councillor seats, and the scale of the defeat emboldened MPs who had been privately unhappy with Starmer’s leadership for months. Party rules require any challenger to secure nominations from 20 per cent of Labour MPs — 81 at the current tally — before a formal contest can begin.