Wes Streeting resigns: Is the challenge over - or just beginning?
The News Agents
Global
4.1 • 5.4K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Wes Streeting cited the unprecedented local election results and the unpopularity of the government as his reason for resigning as health secretary this lunch time. What he did NOT say was that he was directly running for the leadership - and now allies of the PM are saying he has bottled it because he doesn't have the support. Has today strengthened Keir’s hand? Or just drawn out a slow death?
Later - Nigel Farage managed to buy a £1.4m house in cash just weeks after receiving a £5m donation from a crypto billionaire. He told us last week it was for his personal security. Today he described it as a reward for delivering Brexit. Which was it?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is a Global Player original podcast. |
| 0:05.5 | He has seen others parachute out the plane ahead of him. |
| 0:08.8 | It adds to this sense of just mess about the last four days. |
| 0:13.5 | If he had gone back with a tail tucked between the legs and actually said, you know what, |
| 0:17.7 | I'm going to stay in the cabinet, that frankly his political reputation would have been irreconval. |
| 0:22.6 | Absolutely. |
| 0:23.6 | Wes' people were calling up people and saying, would you like to come on board? |
| 0:27.6 | He has royally, royally fucked it. |
| 0:29.6 | With breaking news, the health secretary, Wes Streeting has handed in his letter of resignation |
| 0:35.6 | to the Prime Minister, that letter coming into us here |
| 0:38.7 | at Sky. That is what we call a resignation letter. West Streeting has stepped back, step down |
| 0:47.1 | from being the health secretary. What he hasn't done so far is launch his counterbid at becoming leader and prime minister. |
| 0:57.0 | So West Streeting is now, was streeting, but what are the cues that people are going to pick up from this? |
| 1:04.0 | Are other Cabinet Minister going to resign? Is Andy Burnham coming back? |
| 1:08.0 | Or does this mess just go on and on with Starmers' authority shrinking by the day? |
| 1:17.4 | Welcome to the newsagents. |
| 1:23.7 | The Newsagents. |
| 1:26.7 | It's John. It's Maitless. It's John. |
| 1:27.8 | It's mateless. |
| 1:28.8 | It's Lewis. |
| 1:29.6 | And we're recording this just after half past one on Thursday. |
| 1:33.4 | And Westminster, the news has ricocheted around Westminster that West Streeting has, after all of that buildup, finally decided to resign. |
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