Wes Streeting ‘tells allies that he is preparing to resign and trigger a leadership contest as soon as tomorrow’

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has reportedly told allies that he is ‘preparing to resign and trigger a leadership contest as soon as tomorrow’.

It comes after a tumultuous few days in Westminster which saw more than 80 Labour MPs call for the Prime Minister to resign or set out a timetable for his departure following a disappointing set of local election results for the Labour Party last week. Keir Starmer however has insisted he is going nowhere and dared any leadership hopeful to launch a direct challenge against him.

While more than 20% of Labour MPs may have called for Starmer to go, under the Labour Party’s leadership rules a leadership challenge is triggered if they unite behind a single candidate.

Earlier today, cabinet ministers had said that Streeting did not have the required number of MPs behind him to trigger a formal contest.

However, a source close to the Health Secretary has told the Guardian that he was planning to resign on Thursday and launch a leadership bid. The idea that Starmer had seen off a putsch was “laughable”, they added.

“No one has the numbers till the bell is struck, even canvassing isn’t real, people need certainty before they write their name down. But he thinks he’s got the numbers,” they said.