Earlier this week, there was a significant kerfuffle in Keir Starmer’s Labour government after his team appeared to brief that Wes Streeting was plotting to overthrow the PM. It remains unclear who briefed what and why they chose to brief it, but one thing is obvious: replacing Starmer with Streeting would be like swapping mud for dirt.
While some believed the replacement would make little difference to Labour’s polling, Green leader Zack Polanski thinks Streeting would perform even worse:
So Wes Streeting allies want him to become Prime Minister – for the Labour Government to tank even faster.
We don’t have time to play these silly games – people are suffering now.
Keep growing the alternative – they need replacing.https://t.co/0qbagSwgNX pic.twitter.com/0i1LYHdCBr
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) November 14, 2025
The Starmer effect and Zack Polanski
As we’ve frequently reported, the only direction of travel for Labour under Starmer has been down:
NEW | Labour plunges to historic low in polls
The **average** of polls for July shows Starmer’s Labour party on just 22%, down 13pts since 2024.
This is the lowest that Labour has **EVER** polled. pic.twitter.com/0X9ollY0lS
— Stats for Lefties
(@LeftieStats) August 1, 2025
On 13 November, pollster Scarlett Maguire said what everyone is thinking – that there’s no way Starmer can come back from this, because the public trust him as far as they can throw him:
“His brand is irrecoverable.”
The Labour Party should be worried because Sir Keir Starmer’s unpopularity “has no floor”, unlike former Labour leaders like Jeremy Corbyn who have a loyal base of support, pollster @Scarlett__Mag says pic.twitter.com/C8AUaWz4FZ
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) November 13, 2025
Would Streeting be better?
Almost certainly not.
Streeting is a member of the Labour right, which is to say he’s a politician who dresses up Tory policies with buzz words like ‘working class’, ‘modernisation’, and ‘equality’:
When Wes Streeting talks about “reform” & “modernisation” of the NHS, it’s code for Privatisation
And Privatisation means £Billions that should go to nurses, to doctors and to medical equipment instead is funneled off to Private Firms to fund their profits#DontVoteLabour pic.twitter.com/ohhNU9hUEE
— Pileus Media (@thepileus) July 4, 2024
In his time as the health secretary, Streeting has been rocked by allegations of cronyism. As we reported on 8 September, Streeting invited Alan Milburn to meetings and shared ‘official sensitive’ documents with him. This was controversial because Milburn is a former New Labour figure who has gone on to rake in cash through private healthcare interests – i.e. he’s a man who stands to gain from further privatisation.
You could argue Milburn is the living embodiment of the modern political career – get in, privatise, build your portfolio, profit. As such, it’s disturbing to see him invited into the heart of government.
Streeting has also taken significant donations from individuals and companies which could profit from his actions as the health secretary:
Seems like a good day for us to remind ourselves about some of the donations that Wes Streeting has received….
— Dr Julia Grace Patterson
(@JujuliaGrace) November 14, 2025
People already think Streeting is using his position as the health secretary to improve his own conditions at the expense of patients; do you think that mistrust will go away if he becomes PM, or do you think it will amplify?
Haha do they really think this will turn things around? Streeting is just as unappealing as Starmer, if not more obnoxious and repellent. https://t.co/pcjcNWAgpJ
— Terry (@terryhearnshaw) November 12, 2025
Lickspittle Streeting
A common summary of Streeting is this from the late Dawn Butler:
We don’t think Streeting has changed since then; we barely think he’s got better at hiding it, although others disagree:
The Guardian are seriously trying to pretend Wes Streeting has “shifted away from the right of the Labour Party” as Wes gets ready to run for Labour Leader -treating his posturing like the real thing and their readers like idiots https://t.co/s5z8D28fKH pic.twitter.com/Q22ItmSf4l
— Solomon Hughes (@SolHughesWriter) November 11, 2025
Wes Streeting is on Manoeuvres to become Labour leader and PM.
Wes knows he needs the support of the Labour Party Membership to become party leader.
Wes knows the LP Membership will not vote for and elect more reheated Blairism so he’ll keep making more sympathetic statements… https://t.co/orpSokcyFi
— Cllr Martin Abrams
(@Martin_Abrams) September 22, 2025
If you want to know more about how the Labour right has positioned itself so successfully despite their unpopular politics, be sure to read The Fraud by Paul Holden.
Featured image via Chris McAndrew (Wikimedia) / Barold
By Willem Moore
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