Although there is no official leadership contest \u2013 Starmer is still in Downing Street and the favourite, Andy Burnham, is campaigning to win a byelection<\/a> \u2013 Streeting said it was \u201cinevitable\u201d the prime minister would stand down.<\/p>\n In an interview with the Guardian, the Ilford North MP set out his plans for government, including moving 175,000 children out of temporary accommodation, speeding up the establishment of a national care service, bringing in a wealth tax and \u201clooking again\u201d at plans for refugees.<\/p>\n Starmer\u2019s political authority has been perhaps fatally undermined over the past two weeks after Labour\u2019s devastating election results, with Streeting\u2019s departure from the cabinet and Burnham\u2019s selection to fight the Makerfield seat appearing, in the view of many MPs, to seal his fate.<\/p>\n Many observers were sceptical<\/a> that Streeting had the support of the 81 MPs required to trigger a leadership contest when he stood down. He insisted he had the necessary numbers but said he had held back because he would have been accused of pulling a \u201cfast one\u201d on Burnham if he had gone ahead before he was able to run.<\/p>\n \u2018I know that I start the race as the underdog, but I\u2019ve been the underdog all my life.\u2019 Photograph: David Levene\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Streeting denied he was motivated by unbridled ambition for the job, or that he was planning to abandon his run for the leadership and fall in behind Burnham, should he win the byelection, in order to secure a big job.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not what motivates and drives me at all. I do think it\u2019s inevitable that Keir has to go. I think he\u2019s lost the support of much of his cabinet, lost the support of much of the parliamentary party, and as we saw a fortnight ago, he\u2019s certainly lost the support of the country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that I start the race as the underdog, but I\u2019ve been the underdog all my life. I\u2019ve had to beat the odds \u2013 from the fact that I ended up in parliament rather than prison like my granddad, that I ended up going from one of the toughest state schools in London to one of the best universities in the country.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople will say obviously Keir can\u2019t lead us into the next general election. So you\u2019re basically conceding there\u2019s a problem \u2026 but you\u2019re saying, let\u2019s go on for just another couple of years of inertia and then change close to the election. That didn\u2019t work out very well for Joe Biden and the Democrats.<\/p>\n \u201cI genuinely think \u2013 and I say this with sorrow more than anger \u2013 that if we carry on as we are, with a leader that we have, we will hand the keys of Downing Street to Nigel Farage. I do not want that on my conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n Although he trails Burnham in polls of Labour members, and is seen as being on the right of the party, Streeting believes he can still win over the Labour membership, and denied he was suddenly pitching left.<\/p>\n Wes Streeting delivering his resignation speech<\/a> in the House of Commons. Photograph: UK parliament\/PA<\/p>\n \u201cI think I can win. Yes, I think I can persuade people. The things I\u2019m talking about in this campaign \u2026 these are things I\u2019ve talked about throughout my career.\u201d<\/p>\n Streeting\u2019s plan to move 85,000 families out of temporary accommodation, which currently costs \u00a33bn a year, relies on speeding up the delivery of social homes. The government currently plans to build about 300,000 social and affordable homes over the next 10 years, with at least 60% for social rent.<\/p>\n Under his plans, only larger developments \u2013 possibly of 2,000 homes or more \u2013 would be subject to environmental impact assessments. Developers would have to bid against each other for land that already has planning permission built in, with the value going back to councils to build more social homes and developers able to start building more quickly.<\/p>\n Councils that did not build enough new homes would be stripped of the power to do so, and this would be given to the Planning Inspectorate instead to drive them through.<\/p>\n A Streeting government would speed up the Casey review<\/a>, which aims to establish a national care service in England but is not due to report until 2028. \u201cI think the timetable is bonkers, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd this was a fight I lost with No 10 and the Treasury. So I\u2019d bring that commission forward.\u201d<\/p>\n He said nobody should have to sell their home to pay for social care, and that the risk and cost should be socialised in the way that it had been for health.<\/p>\n Wes Streeting said Andy Burnham \u2018does not live rent-free in my head\u2019. Photograph: David Levene\/The Guardian<\/p>\n While the government has already brought in a fair pay agreement for care workers, Streeting said he would introduce a national sponsorship body for immigrant workers in the sector, arguing that too many were experiencing \u201clegal modern slavery\u201d, reliant on bad employers for visas.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779476049_497_4014.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Wes](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779476050_538_1920.jpg\")
Wes Streeting\u2019s pitch to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister<\/p>\n