UK’s ex-health minister Streeting says will run to replace PM Keir Starmer |
LONDON — Wes Streeting, who resigned as UK health secretary this week, announced Saturday he will run to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader and prime minister, after the party suffered disastrous losses in last week’s local elections, sparking calls for the embattled British premier to step down.
Starmer has rejected calls to quit, including from within his own party, with around a fifth of Labour’s lawmakers in the House of Commons urging him to stand down. Streeting quit the government Thursday with a withering assessment of the party head’s leadership, though no other senior minister followed suit and the 43-year-old MP did not immediately trigger a leadership contest.
Later that day, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham unveiled a bid to become an MP which, if successful, would allow the 56-year-old from the left of the party to stand in that contest. Burnham is seen as Starmer’s biggest would-be rival, partly because he’s perceived to be to the political left of the prime minister and has been a popular figure as Manchester’s mayor for nearly a decade.
While still not announcing he has kick-started the formal leadership challenge process, Streeting confirmed Saturday he will vie to replace Starmer and become the center-left Labour Party’s new leader.
Whoever leads the ruling party, which has a large majority in Britain’s parliament, will by default become prime minister.
“We need a proper contest with the best........