Toxic briefing that backfired on Keir: How No 10’s bid to dam a Streeting problem left him quipping I’m a Faithful not a Traitor!

Fears of an imminent coup were ignited by the man who is alleged to be at the centre of it.

Last Wednesday, Wes Streeting took to social media to praise the newly elected socialist mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, heralding a victory that held ‘lessons for progressives the world over’.

The Health Secretary’s comments raised eyebrows in Westminster: was his ankle-flashing to the Left of the Labour Party a sure sign he was on manoeuvres?

It was certainly not the first time suspicions had been raised. For a long time, Mr Streeting has been regarded as a potential successor to Sir Keir Starmer. 

His working-class credentials, strong communication skills and political nous have sealed him as a contender. But in recent weeks, speculation has been growing that he might fancy a tilt for the top sooner than anticipated.

Earlier this month The Mail on Sunday reported that MPs were assessing support for Mr Streeting as well as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner. 

It said some hoped a ‘coronation’ could be arranged for Mr Streeting, with Ms Rayner as his Left-wing deputy to counter fears that he is too ‘Blairite’.

Speculation of a joint ticket was sparked at Labour’s annual conference, when the Health Secretary called for Ms Rayner to make a comeback just weeks after she was forced out over an underpaid stamp duty bill.

For a long time, Mr Streeting has been regarded as a potential successor to Sir Keir Starmer (file image)

Kemi Badenoch and her frontbench are pictured yesterday as Streeting raised eyebrows in Westminster

Sir Keir gave only a lukewarm backing to Mr McSweeney during Prime Minister’s Questions, yet Downing Street would not even promise a probe into who was behind the briefing

But in recent days the warnings about manoeuvres have intensified. On Friday, the i newspaper reported that MPs were openly plotting against Sir Keir.

Gathering in the Smoking Room, a private parliamentary bar used by MPs, they discussed ‘the who and the how and the when to replace him’, one minister told the paper.

While the i predicted that a challenge to the PM was not imminent, it said conversations about his future had ‘stepped up a gear’ in the past few weeks. 

Coupled with the backdrop of bleak polling and anxiety over the forthcoming Budget, it added to growing concern in No 10 that a coup may be afoot.

Then, on Tuesday night, a slew of reports suddenly dropped – all featuring allies of the PM making clear that he would fight a leadership challenge, in what had all the hallmarks of a co-ordinated briefing to some sympathetic ears.

The BBC reported that ‘friends’ of Sir Keir were ‘deeply worried about what they see as plotting going on to try to replace him and are seeking to make clear what they see as the grave risks of a leadership challenge’.

The broadcaster said MPs were discussing Mr Streeting and Ms Mahmood as potential candidates to displace the PM. 

The Times reported that Sir Keir would not resign ‘in the event of any attempt to remove him’. It also said that ‘Downing Street figures’ suspected Mr Streeting ‘could demand the Prime Minister’s resignation in the days after the Budget’.

Mr Streeting’s working-class credentials, strong communication skills and political nous have sealed him as a contender

Meanwhile, the Guardian featured warnings from the PM’s ‘most senior political aides’ that any attempt to oust Sir Keir over tanking poll ratings would be ‘reckless’ and could destabilise the markets. 

The paper also cited senior figures who said they had been told that Mr Streeting had ’50 frontbenchers willing to stand down if the Budget landed badly and the Prime Minister did not go’.

A spokesman for the Health Secretary was quick to say it was ‘categorically untrue’ that he intended to challenge Sir Keir.

But the briefings coincided with a damning article in The New Statesman – so-called bible of the Left – which asked whether the PM realises ‘how much trouble he’s in’. 

It detailed the ‘mutinous talk’ in Labour ranks and noted how among MPs there is ‘widespread mockery, sarcasm, name-calling and the darkest of gallows humour’.

Insiders began pointing the finger at Sir Keir’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney for the briefings.

By daybreak, Mr Streeting had the task of touring the broadcast studios – a planned media round to explain the next phase of the abolition of NHS England. Instead, he had to express his loyalty to the PM to millions.

But if the briefer – who would have known in advance who was doing the morning round – had hoped to humiliate Mr Streeting, it backfired. 

He deftly fended off the questions – even joking that it was ‘the worst attack on a Faithful since Joe Marler was banished in The Traitors final’. Many would have noted how his sharp performance contrasted to Sir Keir’s media style.

Mr Streeting also said there was a ‘toxic culture’ in Downing Street and suggested the PM sack the aide responsible for the briefing. 

But No 10 appeared reluctant to act. Sir Keir gave only a lukewarm backing to Mr McSweeney during Prime Minister’s Questions, yet Downing Street would not even promise a probe into who was behind the briefing.

Mr Streeting, speaking to health leaders in Manchester yesterday, declined to say whether he believed Mr McSweeney was responsible for the culture in No10 but added that, without him, ‘there wouldn’t be a Labour Government’.