Wes for PM?
Coffee House Shots
The Spectator
4.4 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 November 2025
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Conspiracy or cock-up? Westminster is abuzz after what appears to be a plan to decapitate Wes Streeting has spectacularly backfired. A flurry of late-night briefings designed to shore up Keir Starmer’s position turned personal against the Health Secretary, suggesting he was plotting a coup in advance of the Budget and in anticipation of – what many expect will be – a poor showing at the local elections.
Streeting was left to defend himself on the media round, confidently declaring he was a ‘faithful’ and he also joked that he doesn't know the whereabouts of Shergar and believes the moon landings are real. There is only one clear winner from this whole debacle: Wes Streeting. Are the knives now out for the Prime Minister?
Produced by Megan McElroy and Oscar Edmondson.
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Transcript
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| 0:43.0 | I'm James Hill and I'm joined today by Tim Shipman and Isabel Hardman. |
| 0:46.3 | Now, before we come on to PMQ's Tim, what on earth has been happening in the Dave Party? |
| 0:49.8 | You've had all these briefings overnight. |
| 0:51.3 | Set the scene for us. |
| 0:52.2 | Yeah, I mean, it appears on the face of it like a |
| 0:54.5 | coordinated attempt to decapitate the health secretary and machine gun anyone who might have |
| 0:59.9 | designs on Keir Stahmer's job. I think some of this is conspiracy and I think some of it is cock up. |
| 1:05.9 | Patrick McGuire of the Times, well-established journalist, says he spoke to four people on Monday |
| 1:10.5 | who all suggested |
| 1:12.5 | that were there to be any attempt to get rid of Stama, that he would fight, and he would fight |
| 1:18.2 | mercilessly to the end to stop that. I know who two of those people are, because I've spoken to |
| 1:23.0 | them myself. Both of them insist that they were responded to questions that they were asked. |
| 1:27.0 | So some of this |
| 1:28.6 | may or may not have been at number 10's instigation. That's the first thing to say. Second thing to say |
... |
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