Turmoil in Westminster: Streeting Quits Cabinet, Burnham Moves to Return as Starmer Defies Resignation Calls

A political storm is engulfing Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a senior minister resigns in protest and a prominent regional mayor launches a bid to re-enter parliament, all while the Labour Party reels from bruising election defeats.

Health Minister Wes Streeting resigned from the cabinet this week, marking the first senior minister to publicly break with Starmer over his leadership. In his resignation letter, Streeting wrote bluntly: “It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election.”

At the same time, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has set the stage for a political comeback. Burnham, who served as an MP from 2001 to 2017, announced he will seek to run for Labour in Makerfield after incumbent Labour MP George Simon confirmed he would step aside. However, Burnham cannot mount a leadership challenge without a seat in parliament. Labour’s National Executive Committee, which controls candidate selections, had previously blocked Burnham from standing in a by-election earlier this year.

Streeting is seen as popular on the right of the governing Labour Party, while Burnham is regarded as more left-wing. Neither has formally declared they are running for the top job. Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner is also anticipated to enter the race. New reports indicate that UK tax authorities have cleared Rayner of deliberate wrongdoing in a tax matter that forced her to resign from government last September.

The political earthquake follows last Thursday’s election results, which delivered major gains for Reform UK and the left-wing populist Greens. Those results have deepened months of internal anger toward Starmer. Since the vote, four junior ministers have resigned, and dozens of Labour MPs have called on Starmer to step down.

Starmer has so far refused to quit. In a sign of the party’s fracture, at least 100 of his own lawmakers have pleaded with him to remain, backed by a number of senior ministers. The split underscores bitter divisions among Labour’s 403 members of parliament.