Wes Streeting appeared to put further pressure on Keir Starmer’s leadership after Labour’s defeat in the Caerphilly by-election last Thursday.
The health secretary told the Sunday Times that the defeat in the Welsh Senedd election was the prime minister’s “Hartlepool [by-election] moment” in a significant parallel to a defeat which almost saw Sir Keir quit as Labour leader.
And although insisting that the prime minister can bounce back, as he did before, Mr Streeting’s comparison could be seen as adding fire to speculation over his leadership.
With Labour now polling below 20 per cent in a number of different polls, discussions about ousting him among MPs and ministers are heating up.
It comes as Labour members elected Lucy Powell, who Sir Keir sacked just a few weeks ago as a minister, to be his deputy leader after rejecting his preferred choice, education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Meanwhile, a Techne UK poll for The Independent revealed that voters are deserting Labour for the Greens, who under Zack Polanski have surged to 12 per cent, up three points, while Labour have dropped to 19 per cent.
Mr Streeting told The Sunday Times: “When we were in opposition, we were shocked that Hartlepool — a town that had always been loyal to Labour — rejected us at the ballot box. Keir Starmer not only took that result on the chin, he took it to heart. And he used Hartlepool and the experience of Hartlepool to drive through the change in the Labour Party necessary to make it electable and capable of winning a general election that no one thought we would win.
“I have no doubt that, having done that before, Keir can do that again. We’ve got to take the message from Caerphilly not just on the chin, we’ve got to take it to heart — and we have got to change the way our Labour government drives change and delivers in just the same way we did in opposition after Hartlepool.”
The Hartlepool by-election on 6 May 2021 came when Labour was at a low ebb and seemingly unable to to overcome Boris Johnson’s popularity before Partygate knocked the Tories off course.
It was the first time Labour had lost the seat and just weeks later they were faced with another crucial by-election in Batley and Spen on July 1 2021.
Sources have confirmed that had Batley and Spen been lost to the Tories then Sir Keir would have quitted with Mr Streeting at the time understood to be preparing a leadership bid in case that happened.
But Labour’s Kim Leadbeater, the sister of the former MP Jo Cox who had been murdered in 2016, won by 323 votes saving Sir Keir’s leadership. From there Labour eventually completed a comeback in 2024 winning the general election.
However, Mr Streeting’s comments to The Sunday Times in the wake of the Caerphilly defeat have already been seen by colleagues as an indication that Sir Keir may be running out of time.
The health secretary is one of five potential candidates to take over from within parliament with Manchester mayor Andy Burnham another possibility if he can mastermind a comeback as an MP.
One MP messaged The Independent: “Wes knows it is over.”
Caerphilly was a seat which Labour had held unbroken in Westminster and the Senedd for 107 years.
But it came a poor third with just 11 per cent of the vote behind the winners Plaid Cymru and Reform in second.
