Hi, it's Manvine. It's been yet another day of frenzied political intrigue in the corridors of Westminster.

Just before the King arrived for the state opening of Parliament, amid all the pomp and pageantry,

the gleaming royal carriage and a horseback procession,

Westminster was already a buzz with the news, broken by the times that Wes Streeting had told

allies he was preparing to resign as health secretary tomorrow to trigger a leadership contest.

With so much going on, we thought you'd want to hear all the latest in this extra afternoon episode of the story.

And for that, we're handing over to our Times radio colleague John Pinar, a man who's reported on many a leadership coup.

Thank you. A man who's reported on many a leadership coup. A kissed armour's friends and followers and staff were celebrating last night, thought they'd seen off a challenge to his leadership.

It sounds like their judgment was off and not for the first time, where streeting dropped by Downing Street earlier today and stayed a bare 17 minutes.

Not barely long enough for coffee, but more than enough to leave us all with one firm impression,

he surely had to resign, didn't he?

And now, according to the times, he will, and run for the leadership into the bargain.

Maybe as soon as tomorrow, offering himself, no doubt, as a solution to Labour's problems, and in the process, compounding Sir Keir Stalmers' crisis of credibility painfully.

So, as our Parliament begins a brand new session today, the government looks rudderless, the Labour Party dysfunctional. The Commons is something of a circus and our politics is rather a basket case. Apart from that, according

to ministers, everything is fine. Well, at least the King looked like he knew what he was doing.

Opening the new session of Parliament from the throne earlier today, that was far easier,

well at least for him, far easier than his beautifully judged and diplomatic addressed to the US Congress

just a couple of weeks ago, though with more jewels and no standing ovations.

For Kirstama, opening the debate just a short while ago on the government's programme in the comments,

it must you'd have thought, had been agony.

And if it wasn't, we can't have been paying attention to the hollow shell that his premiership has become over the last 48 hours. So let's, first of all catch up with Aubrey Allegretti, the political correspondent at the time. Hello to you, Albury. Good afternoon, John. What a day, Aubrey. I mean, started off with West Street and going in and out of Downing Street, pretty much before you could blink. And now the word is from you and your colleagues that West Streeting is going for it. And, of course, he has to, doesn't he? Well, it seems to be that the West Streeting is very much laying the ground for both resigning his health secretary and launching a leadership challenge about an hour before the official state opening of Parliament and the king taking to the

throne in the House of Lords. We revealed that the health treating had told allies just that

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