U.K.’s ex-Health Minister Streeting says will run to replace PM Starmer

Wes Streeting, who resigned as U.K. Health Secretary this week announced on Saturday (May 16, 2026) that he will run to replace Keir Starmer as Labour leader and Prime Minister, after the party suffered disastrous local election results.

“We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I’ll be standing,” Mr. Streeting told a think tank event in London, two days after Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham unveiled a bid to become an MP.

If successful, that would allow Burnham to run in a Labour leadership contest that now appears all but inevitable, though it is yet to be formally triggered by MPs.