On May 14, Wes Streeting resigned from his position as the UK’s Health Secretary. On May 16, he announced his candidacy for the leadership of the ruling Labour Party, which, if elected, would make him the country’s Prime Minister.
This is reported by Reuters.
“We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the ballot, and I will be standing,” Wes Streeting stated.
During his speech at the Labour Party’s “Progress” group conference, Streeting outlined the main directions of his policy if he is elected leader. Among these is the strengthening of relations with the European Union.
“We need a new special relationship with the EU, because the future of the UK is tied to Europe, and one day – one day – it will rejoin the European Union,” Streeting said, adding that Britain’s exit from the EU was a “catastrophic mistake.”
He also added that rejoining the European Union would improve the UK’s trade balance and “protect” the country from threats from Russia and the MAGA movement in the US, which supports Donald Trump and far-right politics.
Wes Streeting also criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for “stifling” opposition views within the party and for being “overly cautious” regarding far-right movements in the country and their spread through the right-wing, pro-Russian Reform UK party.
“We’ve brought this culture into government, adopting a hardline approach that has resulted in MPs being criticized for interesting private members’ bills that didn’t align with government policy – like banning smartphones in schools,” Streeting stated.
The Guardian reports that Wes Streeting is the main contender against Keir Starmer in the race for the Labour Party leadership. Another potential contender could be the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, but he would need to win a by-election in his constituency to the UK Parliament first.
Nigel Farage, leader of the right-wing, pro-Russian Reform UK party, has declared that his party will “throw all resources” into this by-election in Greater Manchester to prevent Andy Burnham from entering Parliament and becoming a key figure in the Labour Party, and potentially the UK’s Prime Minister.
Source: suspilne.media