Wes Streeting has wondered aloud whether his ‘sense of humour’ would be his ‘undoing’ – and in the case of Angela Rayner he could be right.
The Health Secretary amused the audience at a Westminster awards ceremony by ‘joking’ about reports that the then Deputy Prime Minister wielded less power in Government than Cabinet colleagues such as Pat McFadden.
Mr Streeting said: ‘The Deputy Prime Minister is here. Good to see you Pat.’
The crack, at last year’s Spectator Parliamentarian Of The Year bash, elicited a rictus grin from Ms Rayner – and was placed by Westminster watchers into the category of ‘many a true word said in jest’. It hasn’t been forgotten by Ms Rayner.
It is not just Mr Streeting’s provocative barbs that have encouraged Ms Rayner to tack towards the rival leadership camp of Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester.
For arcane reasons rooted in incestuous Labour politics in East London, Ms Rayner’s boyfriend Sam Tarry – the unofficial leader of ‘Team Ange’ – has nursed a long enmity against Mr Streeting, the MP for Ilford North.
A Labour insider said: ‘Tarry is one of the few people Angie will listen to, and Sam is no friend of Wes.’
The expectation that Sir Keir Starmer will face a leadership challenge in the New Year has prompted Mr Streeting to try to position himself as the natural successor to the Prime Minister. In his latest move, Mr Streeting last week used an interview with The New Statesman to liken Sir Keir’s administration to a ‘maintenance department’ which lacked the pizzazz to appeal to voters.
Wes Streeting has wondered aloud whether his ‘sense of humour’ would be his ‘undoing’
Pictured: Andy Burnham , the Mayor of Greater Manchester – his supporters claim that Mr Streeting is deliberately stepping up his public manoeuvres in an attempt to bring forward a contest before Mr Burnham can secure a Commons seat
Mr Burnham’s supporters claim that Mr Streeting is deliberately stepping up his public manoeuvres in an attempt to bring forward a contest before Mr Burnham can secure a Commons seat. They expect him to be in position in time to take advantage of a backlash to May’s local elections, which are predicted to be disastrous for Labour. A leadership challenge can be triggered by 81 MPs or 20 per cent of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).
But Mr Streeting knows that his lack of support among ordinary party members – he is seen as too Right-wing – means that his hopes of winning could hinge on an endorsement from Ms Rayner, whose Left-leaning views are popular among the party’s grassroots.
Ms Rayner has privately bridled about what she regards as the ‘arrogance’ of Mr Streeting and his allies in thinking that she is a ‘pawn’ who can ‘just be moved about the chessboard at someone else’s will’ rather than being a leadership contender in her own right.
It led to the reports last week that she would ‘rather stick pins in her eyes’ than back
Mr Streeting for prime minister. Suspicions about Mr Streeting extend beyond Ms Rayner’s allies to the wider Left-leading Tribune group, which has about 80 MPs. Ms Rayner’s close friend, Louise Haigh, is an influential member of the group.
Ms Haigh, who resigned as Transport Secretary after it emerged she had been convicted of fraud connected with the reported disappearance of several mobile phones, has also not forgotten one of Mr Streeting’s jokes at those awards. ‘I love Louise,’ he said, ‘and I’m going to phone her tomorrow on one of her numbers.’
One MP said: ‘When Wes puts on a performance like that to a room full of Tory Boys – and includes lines about how he is the most Right-wing person in the room – he just reinforces the impression to Angela and her tribe that he is an unreconstructed Blairite who is at odds with the majority of Labour members’.
Allies of Mr Streeting counter that his humorous, accessible style is exactly what the party needs after Sir Keir’s leaden leadership. Ms Rayner has to keep her plotting below the radar until the conclusion of an inquiry by HMRC into her underpayment of stamp duty on her £800,000 home in Hove.
The expectation that Sir Keir Starmer will face a leadership challenge in the New Year has prompted Mr Streeting to try to position himself as the natural successor to the Prime Minister
Her supporters hope HMRC will conclude she made an ‘inadvertent error’ and that she will therefore escape a fine of up to £12,000 – and possibly be spared having to stump up some of the £40,000 underpayment.
For his part, the Prime Minister is hoping to shore up his position with an inevitable New Year relaunch, with his hopes pinned on social media. Last week Sir Keir joined TikTok at the age of 63 in the latest attempt by the Government to circumvent the so-called ‘legacy media’ (newspapers and television) and reach younger voters.
Sir Keir is also planning a shake-up of the Whips’ Office to provide better intelligence about the plotting by Ms Rayner and Mr Streeting, with Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds tipped to be replaced by his predecessor Sir Alan Campbell, the Commons Leader.
A source said of the Whips’ Office, which acts as No10’s eyes and ears in the Commons and ensures Government legislation is passed: ‘It just hasn’t been working under Reynolds. We call it the “Wags’ Office” because of how many are married or related to key figures in No 10 or the Cabinet.’
They include MP Imogen Walker, who was appointed as an Assistant Whip in September and is married to Morgan McSweeney, Sir Keir’s chief of staff.
The source added: ‘It’s the talk of the Tea Room. No 10 is finally seeing sense and asking Alan to go back to his old job. Jonny Reynolds is a nice guy but he’s a square peg in a round hole as far as being Chief Whip is concerned.’
An MP said: ‘Alan saw the dangers and the threats coming, the potential problems with the PLP. Jonny doesn’t. He’s too busy trying to make backbenchers like Starmer and trying to shore up the PM’s position. He’s a like a bad plasterer. He trowels over the cracks in the wall, but very soon those cracks are back.’