Wes Streeting has resigned from his role as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, joining calls for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to resign.
This comes following last week’s local, Senedd, and Holyrood elections, which saw the Labour Party lose a number of council seats, as well as control of the Welsh Government.
In a letter published on his X account, Streeting told the Prime Minister: “Serving as your Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has been the greatest joy of my life and, regardless of our differences this week, I remain truly grateful to you for the opportunity to serve, and I am deeply saddened to be leaving government in this way.”
Streeting was appointed to Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet in the immediate aftermath of Labour’s General Election victory in 2024, having become a frontbench MP when Starmer was appointed as the leader of the party. Originally serving s Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, he then took on the role of Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty.
When the Labour Leader reshuffled his Shadow Cabinet in November 2021, Streeting was appointed as the Shadow Health Secretary.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Streeting also outlined the progress that has been made across health and social care in the UK. These achievements include reducing waiting lists, improving ambulance response times, recruiting additional GPs, and boosting NHS satisfaction. Going through these achievements, Streeting told the Prime Minister that he had “delivered against the ambitious targets” that were set for him when he took on his role.
Streeting also paid tribute to the “brilliant leadership team of ministers, officials and special advisers” that have worked across the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care.
This is not the first time that a member of the Cabinet has resigned since Labour’s landslide election victory almost two years ago. In September 2025, Angela Rayner, who was Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, left her role after referring herself to the independent advisor to ministerial standards over the amount of tax that she paid on a flat. Rayner has, today, been cleared of deliberate wrongdoing by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.
The resignation of Wes Streeting comes amid talk of potential challenges to Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party, the Prime Minister seems to have the support of a significant number of members of his party, including some members of his Cabinet. Whether that leadership challenge comes to fruition remains to be seen, but one name being thrown around as a potential challenger – alongside Streeting himself – is Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham.
