Wes Streeting Resigns as UK Health Secretary

Allies of Health Secretary Wes Streeting have told multiple outlets he is preparing to resign from the cabinet in order to challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer for the Labour Party leadership as soon as this week. The expected move comes after Labour suffered heavy losses in local elections, losing nearly 1,500 councillors in England while nationalist parties made gains in Wales and Scotland.

Around 100 Labour MPs have publicly called for Starmer to resign although a similar number have urged potential challengers to hold back from launching a formal bid. Starmer met with Streeting in Downing Street on Tuesday in a session that lasted just 16 minutes.

" Streeting's allies have also told the BBC they expect him to mount the challenge as soon as tomorrow.

The upheaval follows poor local election results and a series of missteps during the nearly two years since Labour won a large parliamentary majority. " Starmer insisted Tuesday he has no intention of resigning even as calls grew louder within his party for him to step down.

In a statement accompanying the King's Speech he declared the country stood at a "pivotal moment" after multiple crises had made working people pay the price. "This time must be different. And this King's Speech shows it will be different with a plan to make this country stronger and fairer," Starmer said.

His deputy, David Lammy, told reporters that after 24 hours no one had come forward to challenge Starmer under party processes and questioned who would be a better candidate.

UK bond yields rose as Starmer's future as prime minister came into doubt. Gilt yields moved higher across the curve, suggesting an added risk premium for holding British debt. Despite the political crisis that could remove the sixth prime minister in a decade, measures of UK risk spreads have remained remarkably contained.

The spreads are modestly wider but below levels seen during the outbreak of the Iran war, Chancellor Rachel Reeves' first budget, and the short-lived premiership of Liz Truss. One portfolio manager at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management said he was underweight gilts because yields had risen beyond Truss-era levels and uncertainty remained high.

A strategist at HSBC described gilts as currently "a half-hour trade" given the volatility from the potential leadership challenge.

“It's clear that the Prime Minister will not lead Labour into the next election, and at some stage a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader.”

Trade unions affiliated with the party joined the calls for change, stating in a release that a plan for a new leader must be put in place. " Reform UK figures seized on the chaos. Starmer's large majority was born not from strong enthusiasm for Labour but from the repeated crises that plagued the Conservative Party under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Peel noted the paradox of governing with such a structurally unstable majority. A slew of ministerial resignations has so far failed to force Starmer's departure this week. Betting markets showed the odds of a Starmer resignation by the end of May had fallen while the probability of him leaving office by the end of 2026 had risen sharply.