In a divided Labour party, Wes Streeting is one of the great dividers.
Staffers who have worked for the former Health Secretary speak of the loyalty and admiration he inspires through his intelligence, hard work and compassion. “He’s personable, likeable and connects with people,” says one on the right of the party, “but there’s also that steel and determination within him.”
Those on the left see a different side. A former colleague from his days as a councillor acknowledges Streeting is “very bright” and “works exceptionally hard”, yet laments how “dismissive and negative” he can be towards people who backed Jeremy Corbyn – while ensuring “other people do his dirty work for him”.
Another ex-staffer sums up how he is viewed within Labour. “When I used to say, ‘I work for Wes,’ I got visceral hatred or overwhelming joy – one of the two.”
This may leave Streeting struggling to secure enough support within the Labour membership to win a party leadership election and claim No 10 – having resigned from Sir Keir Starmer’s cabinet on Thursday, saying he had lost confidence in the Prime Minister.
He may even face a challenge holding onto his seat at the next general election. His majority in Ilford North in 2024 was only 528 votes, or 1.2 per cent – far smaller than any previous Prime Minister over the last century – and he has admitted he could be “toast”.
Does he have the backing within the party at local and national levels to overcome these difficulties and take control of Downing Street? The i Paper has spoken to people who have worked with him throughout his career to get a better sense of his strengths, weaknesses, and chances of success.
Can Wes Streeting, seen here with Sir Keir Starmer in 2023, resuscitate Labour’s poll ratings? (Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty)‘I thought he would go on to great things’
Streeting grew up in poverty, having been born in 1983 to an 18-year-old mother who upset her family by refusing to have an abortion. Although his father has always “been there” for him, his parents separated early.
By the time he was two years old, his mother was in a relationship with a “violent, controlling brute” who was eventually jailed for “terrible abuse” of her, Streeting wrote in his memoir One Boy, Two Bills and a Fry Up. He also recalled how “all the lights would go out, the TV screen would switch to black or the stereo would cut out mid-song” when the electricity meter for their council flat in Stepney often ran out of money.
The practicing Anglican Christian received free school meals at his comprehensive in London’s Victoria, and recalls being “geeky, gobby” and “deeply unpopular”. In an interview in 2011, he recalled winning a book token and using it to buy a volume of Tony Blair’s speeches, admitting: “What sort of kid reads Tony Blair’s speeches on the bus?”
Streeting, who would be the UK’s first openly gay Prime Minister, campaigned with Stonewall before becoming a Labour MP (Photo: Nicolas Chinardet/Flickr Vision/Moment Editorial via Getty)After studying history at Cambridge, he won election as president of the National Union of Students in 2008. Aaron Porter, who served under Streeting and succeeded him as union leader two years later, said they worked “very closely together” both in their office and travelling around the country to campaign against tuition fees.
“He was incredibly charismatic, a really good communicator, pretty driven,” says Porter, now chair of the private BPP University. “He was open in saying he would like a career in politics… I thought he would go on to great things.”
Streeting’s approach to politics, pragmatic even then, “focused on getting things done” rather than on purity of principles, Porter recalls. He wasn’t afraid to make difficult decisions about redundancies, says Porter, and was “willing to speak to those people face to face”, which earned him respect. “Although people disagreed with him, they rarely disliked him.”
There was a “work-hard, play-hard mentality” at the NUS and Streeting was “often the life and soul of the party”, Porter adds. “He was quite a raconteur, a storyteller, a joke-teller in the bars… He had an impressive ability to stay up late and get up early. I sometimes felt he delivered even better speeches when he’d had quite a late night.”
Wes Streeting hopes to enter 10 Downing Street after resigning as Health Secretary (Photo: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty)‘If you disagree with him, he can be ruthless’
In 2010, Streeting won a by-election to become a councillor in the East London borough of Redbridge. He served for five years, becoming deputy leader of the local authority.
One former colleague on the council cabinet, who asked to remain anonymous, says Streeting was “very ambitious” from the start and enjoyed support from major figures on the right of the party.
“From the moment he got elected, it was clear he was tipped for a senior role in politics,” says the former councillor. While canvassing for votes, “people like Peter Mandelson turned up to support Wes… That doesn’t normally happen”.
Streeting has insisted he was “not a close friend” of Mandelson, releasing his WhatsApp messages with the disgraced former UK Ambassador to the US in February for transparency amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Peter Mandelson helped Wes Streeting’s campaign for his first parliamentary election in 2015 (Photo: X)The former council colleague says Streeting is “one of the cleverest people I’ve met” and has “a lot of good points”, including being very effective at working on policy.
Nevertheless, they claim he provoked “a lot of disillusionment” among local members on the left of the party after he became an MP in 2015 for Ilford North, a constituency in Redbridge, and began opposing Corbyn.
The source says Streeting is “much further to the right than the membership” on issues such as NHS use of private contractors and the war in Gaza. They were not surprised his support collapsed in 2024 following a strong campaign by independent candidate Leanne Mohamad, a British-Palestinian activist.
“If there was a unified campaign in Ilford North – well run, well targeted – I think Wes as Prime Minister would be in real trouble if he stayed,” they predict. Although there are “some members who really like him,” they believe “there is a real risk Wes would lose his seat”.
They add that he’s not afraid to use cold and calculating tactics. “You don’t cross Wes,” they say. “If you’re on Wes’s side, he is brilliant. If you disagree with him, he can be ruthless, but in a way that he makes sure it doesn’t bounce back onto him.”
Wes Streeting is a practicing Anglican Christian (Photo: Richard Pohle – WPA Pool/Getty Images)‘His work ethic was pretty frightening’
Two former members of Streeting’s constituency and parliamentary teams, who also asked not to be named, starkly disagree with the council colleague’s depiction. They speak highly of him as a boss and believe he would be an effective national leader.
“He was a motivator, definitely,” says one. “He knew how to build and lead a good team and inspire a sense of purpose. He was relentlessly high energy, he was upbeat at all hours of the day and his work ethic was pretty frightening.”
He would “lead by example” and instilled a “really good culture of praise”, they add, rather than “ruling by diktat”.
A second agrees, saying he happily shares memes and online jokes with his juniors on WhatsApp. “He was deeply trusting of his team, who were very close knit,” they recall. “He doesn’t say things he doesn’t mean. He is deeply personable… He’s probably the most genuine politician I’ve ever worked for.” When meeting constituents, he is “ferocious” in wanting to help them.
As for the NHS, “he wants to get waiting lists down and he’s not afraid to use the private sector to do it”, they add. Having survived kidney cancer aged just 38, he has every reason to care about the health service.
Wes Streeting met Sir Keir Starmer before the State Opening of Parliament this week (Photo: Toby Melville – WPA Pool/Getty)During rumours of a coup against Starmer in November, Streeting was ridiculed for robotically repeating the same joke involving the BBC gameshow The Celebrity Traitors in six different interviews, saying that criticism of him by an unnamed No 10 source was “the most appalling attack on a faithful I’ve seen since Joe Marler was banished from the final”. But insiders say many MPs re-use their favourite lines for difference audiences and believe communication is one of his strong points.
The second ex-staffer believes he’s picked the right moment to challenge Starmer. He would “be able to tell a story to people about what this government is for and how we’re improving your life, and he’d have the drive to get policy through that Keir sat on the fence with”.
They insist he would have the ability to unite the party, saying: “He’s very good at bringing people with him.”
Speculation about a leadership bid by Wes Streeting has been growing for months (Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)Streeting would be the first openly gay Prime Minister, but has angered many in the trans community by extending the ban on puberty blockers for under-18s.
Accusations of transphobia “really upset him”, says the second former team member, but they accept he would have to overcome what they see as unfair misconceptions on the left “that he’s a rabid right-wing Blairite who hates trans people”.
Competition from Andy Burnham and Angela Rayner could be difficult for him, the first former office member admits. “Being a Londoner makes it more difficult to appeal to voters who might see Labour going down the metropolitan, urban-based route.”
They hope he succeeds, however. “He’s the right person to lead the country.”
@robhastings.bsky.social
Hence then, the article about you don t cross wes the real streeting by those who know him was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( ‘You don’t cross Wes’: The real Streeting – by those who know him )
Also on site :