The Health Secretary, long linked with a leadership bid, called for the party to show ‘humility in defeat’, and warned against moving the party to the left to take on the Greens
Wes Streeting has claimed only Labour can unite the country after the crushing defeat in Gorton and Denton.
The Health Secretary, long linked with a leadership bid, called for the party to show “humility in defeat”, and warned against moving the party to the left to take on the Greens. His call came as the PM wrote to Labour members accepting the public were impatient for change, and argued the new battle was to make voters see Labour as the voice of progressive politics.
Speaking at the Labour North conference in Durham, Mr Streeting said: “The challenge for Labour is in some ways the same as it has always been: To be the party that unites that coalition across the centre and the left.
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
READ MORE: Spring Statement 2026 bombshells – from Rachel Reeves ‘defiance’ to tax plansREAD MORE: Fury and jubilation in Gorton and Denton: ‘Westminster is laughing at us’
“We mustn’t fall into the trap of sounding like our attack on the Greens is an attack on hope, or to give the impression that there aren’t things that unite us as progressives, or – worst still – to allow them to steal our clothes. Ultimately, hope isn’t built on vibes. It is built on change. And we must now give the country its hope back, built on the change we are bringing.”
Mr Streeting also dismissed the suggestion that Labour should move to the left to out-flank the Greens. He said: “They are just as wrong as the people who argued, in the wake of the Runcorn by-election, that we should shift to the right and try to out-Reform Reform. We are the Labour Party. We are in government. We start every day with the microphone in our hand and the power to make our country fairer. We have got to set our own agenda, not follow someone else’s.”
His intervention comes as the PM wrote to Labour members vowing to convince the public that his party were the face of progressive politics. The PM said: “I get it: people are rightly impatient to see more of the change they voted for in 2024. It’s my job to make sure that happens. And I’m working day in, day out to see it through.
“Over the coming months, people will feel more of the change we are delivering on cost of living and more opportunities for people in our country. The majority of this country neither want the wrong-headed policies of Zack Polanski or the division of Nigel Farage.
“Our task in the coming months is to focus on that majority and ensure Labour is the voice and vehicle for the modern progressive Britain we all believe in. I don’t underestimate the challenge, but with your support, it’s a challenge we can, must and will win.”
Next week the Chancellor will deliver the Spring Statement, which Government sources told the Sunday Mirror will have no new policy in it, but set out how people will feel the impact on the cost of living this year.
The main message from Tuesday is expected to be that despite the result in Gorton and Denton, the economy is heading in the right direction, and reminding MPs not to lose their nerve, with the party pushing to get back on the front foot.
It comes as former Home Secretary David Blunkett urged the PM to tell a better story. Writing in the Sunday Mirror, he said: “The problem for the Greens – who can say whatever they like; who can appeal to whoever they wish – is that only in fairyland are they likely to be in government.
“Keir Starmer ’s task – and it won’t be easy – is to translate perfectly good individual policies into a story about what the government is doing, will do and how it can be felt to have changed the lives of people on the ground. With inflation falling, interest rates falling, and gradually spending on critical services increasing, it is vital to create hope and the “feel good” factor.”