News » Political News, UK News » Health secretary Wes Streeting resigns
May 14th 2026
Wes Streeting has resigned as health secretary.
In a letter published in the Independent newspaper, he said: "[There] are good reasons for me to remain in post, but ... having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to do so."
In his letter, he described last week’s election results as "unprecedented". He said: "For the first time in our country’s history, nationalists are in power in every corner of the United Kingdom – including a dangerous English nationalism represented by Nigel Farage and Reform UK. This represents both an existential threat to the future integrity of the United Kingdom, but Reform UK also represent a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great.
"These are big challenges that require a bold vision and bigger solutions than we are offering.It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour Unions want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism. It needs to be broad, and it needs the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope that you will facilitate this."
