Streeting resigns, but can he trigger a leadership contest?
May 14, 2026
28 min
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1,415 of 1,433
May 14, 2026
Streeting resigns, but can he trigger a leadership contest?
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The New Statesman Episodes Around May 14, 2026
Episode 1,415 of 1,433 — walk the feed in the order it was published.
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28:38This episodeStreeting resigns, but can he trigger a leadership contest?
Summary
<p>Wes Streeting resigned as Health Secretary on Thursday morning, but Ailbhe Rea says Keir Starmer is determined to fight on.</p><br /><p>After days of speculation – and a 16-minute meeting at Number 10 – Wes Streeting has finally resigned from cabinet.</p><br /><p>On the same day, Angela Rayner has announced she has been "cleared" of wrongdoing related to unpaid property tax, which would leave her free to run in a leadership contest if one is triggered.</p><br /><p>However, sources inside Number 10 have told Ailbhe Rea that Wes Streeting does not have the backing of enough MPs to trigger a leadership contest. So what is the former Health Secretary hoping to achieve?</p><br /><p>And if a leadership contest were triggered, who else would be likely to run?</p><br /><p>Ailbhe Rea and Anoosh Chakelian discuss the latest from Westminster in The Politics Show.</p><br /><p>READ: <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/westminster/2026/05/wes-streeting-resigns-with-excoriating-letter-to-starmer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Wes Streeting resigns with an excoriating letter to Starmer</a></p><p><strong>LISTEN AD-FREE:</strong></p><p>📱<a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2022/06/newapp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Download the New Statesman app</a></p><br /><p><strong>MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:</strong></p><p>❓ <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/podcasts/2022/10/you-ask-us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ask a question</a> – we answer them every Friday</p><p>⏰ <a href="https://morningcall.substack.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Get our daily politics newsletter</a> every morning</p><p>✍️ <a href="http://saturdayread.substack.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Enjoy the best of our writing</a> via email every Saturday</p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>
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