Starmer premiership on life support as Streeting resigns
The Daily T
The Telegraph
4.1 • 702 Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 46 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Wes Streeting has resigned from Keir Starmer’s cabinet with a blistering attack on the PM. But with no contest formally triggered, how long can Starmer cling on before more ministers call for him to go?
Tim Stanley speaks to the Telegraph’s chief political commentator Ben Riley-Smith on the impact and timing of Streeting’s resignation and whether his letter offers an in for either Andy Burnham or Angela Rayner.
Meanwhile, friend of The Daily T Jacob Rees-Mogg also drops in to give an insight into the chaos of a political party leadership contest.
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Highlights
- Wes Streeting resigns as Health Secretary
- But has he got the numbers to start a leadership contest?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Telegraph. |
| 0:09.1 | It's finally happened. |
| 0:11.4 | Wes Streeting has resigned. |
| 0:13.3 | After 24 hours of will he or won't he challenge Kirstama for the leadership, |
| 0:17.6 | the health secretary has quit with a damning critique of the Prime Minister. |
| 0:22.4 | The Telegraph's chief political commentator Ben Riley Smith brings us the very latest. |
| 0:26.8 | And does the devastation of Kier Stalmers' leadership, potentially leading to our sixth |
| 0:31.5 | prime minister in seven years, prove that Britain really is ungovernable? |
| 0:36.1 | I ask a friend of the podcast, Jacob Rees-Mogg. |
| 0:39.0 | Welcome to The Daily Tea with me, Tim Stanley. |
| 0:49.4 | This is a special edition of The Daily Tea, at time of recording 1.45pm, |
| 0:57.0 | where Streeting has resigned as Health Secretary. |
| 1:00.1 | Camilla Tomini has chosen quite a day to undergo the knife. |
| 1:03.8 | We wanted to give you some instant reaction, so I'm now joined by Ben Riley Smith, who |
| 1:08.7 | is the Telegraph's chief political commentator. Ben, what |
| 1:12.5 | the hell just happened? Dramatic. He did it for a two-page letter to Kirstama that he published |
| 1:17.4 | with no additional words on Twitter suddenly on those journalists who had notifications on. Suddenly |
| 1:22.3 | he thought, oh my God, West Streetings tweeted and yes, he resigned. He did a long justification for it. It included a bit |
| 1:30.2 | where he said, I've essentially delivered as health secretary, waiting lists of coming down, etc. |
| 1:34.9 | He said essentially, I've got to act in the national interest. He pointed that nationalists are |
| 1:39.5 | now heading up Scottish, Welsh, Nord-Marish, devolved administrations and that the threat of reform had |
| 1:46.6 | to be challenged. |
... |
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