Wes Streeting’s plot to oust Sir Keir Starmer as PM is being supported by disgraced Lord Peter Mandelson as “revenge” for losing his job, a Labour MP has claimed.
Party stalwart John McDonnell made the bombshell claim after the Health Secretary told pals he was ready to quit the cabinet and mount a leadership challenge. He suggested Mandelson and Sir Keir’s sacked chief-of-staff Morgan McSweeney were plotting revenge.
The veteran left-winger – who served as shadow chancellor during Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership – wrote on X: “Wes Streeting owes his political status to the support he’s received over years from Peter Mandelson & Morgan McSweeney at Labour Together.
“He wouldn’t make a move against Keir Starmer without Mandelson’s say so. So look on this as Mandelson’s and Morgan’s revenge.”
Formerly regarded as close to Lord Mandelson, Streeting has distanced himself from the former Labour minister since he was sacked as US ambassador after revelations emerged about his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Streeting, who is widely tipped to quit his cabinet post today and trigger a leadership election, vowed earlier this year he would never speak to Mandelson again.
McDonnell, who has himself called for a change of leadership, said Streeting had launched a “coup”. He said: “I called for time for serious discussion, no precipitous coup and (a) fully democratic process (in a) leadership election.
“Instead Wes Streeting has launched coup for fear of a democratic process and whilst candidates are blocked. Handing leadership to (Lord Peter) Mandelson’s protege is a gift to Reform.”
Streeting released messages he shared with the former US ambassador earlier this year as he insisted they were not close friends.
Among them are messages from March 2025, where Streeting said he thinks he is “toast” at the next election, and others where he criticised the government for having “no [economic] growth strategy”.
Streeting’s team said they released all private messages between the pair from six months before Lord Mandelson’s appointment in December 2024 to February 2026.
The release suggests the pair sent each other messages periodically every few months. Some have a friendly, warmer tone, and the occasional exchange of an “x” to signal a kiss.
When Matthew Doyle was being eased out of his job as communications director in No 10 in February last year, Streeting contacted Mandelson in Washington to say: “You should get Doyle to do your comms in DC!”
A spokesman for Lord Mandelson has been contacted for comment.
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