As Westminster rushed to read and watch Rayner’s interviews, Streeting had still not decided whether he was staying or going.
“He didn’t begin the week planning to resign”, said a colleague. But his departure had become more inevitable with each passing day.
In a brief face-to-face meeting on Wednesday, Streeting told Sir Keir he had lost confidence in the prime minister’s leadership.
Yet the lack of clarity over the now-former health secretary’s future had led critics to dub him a “bottler” who had not amassed anywhere near the numbers of MPs to formally launch a challenge against Sir Keir.
Streeting’s allies insists that is not true. “I’ve seen the spreadsheet,” one claimed.
Another colleague added: “He’d been calling round MPs and had got the numbers he needed, but through those conversations he’d concluded that any contest would have to enable the broadest set of candidates.
“That meant giving Andy Burnham a chance to state his intention and come back if he wanted.”
Team Streeting were also fully aware that without a credible victory he would struggle to command the support of Labour MPs if difficult legislation came to the fore.
Streeting made his final decision on Thursday morning.
“He had a few cabinet ministers and people in Number 10 asking him not to go,”, said a supporter.
“But he spoke to friends and colleagues in Parliament and made up his mind.”
Streeting drafted his resignation letter in his wood-panelled ministerial office in the Palace of Westminster.
He did not take the decision at all lightly, one friend said.
“But once he’d made it, he was certain it was right and honourable. It was done with a heavy heart but with total conviction.”
Streeting was with his staff and a few supportive MPs when the letter was emailed to Number 10.
Shortly after at 12:58 BST on Thursday he posted the bombshell news on X.
At that moment, Sir Keir was on the way to meet apprentices in south west London.
Soon after Streeting’s announcement, journalists were told the prime minister’s visit was cancelled.