'I'll be standing!' Wes Streeting confirms candidacy to challenge Keir Starmer for Labour leadership

Ex-Health Secretary Wes Streeting has revealed he will stand in a "proper contest" to replace Sir Keir Starmer as Labour leader and Prime Minister.

Mr Streeting, who had been accused of plotting against the Prime Minister for months, set out his stall at a Progress think tank event in London.

The Ilford North MP called for a "proper debate" as part of the process of finding a successor to Sir Keir after warning Labour will become "the handmaidens of Nigel Farage and the breakup of the United Kingdom".

In his first public appearance since resigning as Health Secretary on Thursday, Mr Streeting said: “We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field and I’ll be standing.”

He added: "The English nationalism represented by Farage and Reform is a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great.”

Mr Streeting, who campaigned for a second Brexit referendum after 2016, also advocated for a "new special relationship with the EU".

He said: “The biggest economic opportunity we have is on our doorstep.

"We need a new special relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe and one day, one day, back in the European Union.”

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