The Health Secretary, who was forced to deny planning a coup against Keir Starmer on Wednesday, predicted himself when asked who will be Prime Minister in ten years’ time
Wes Streeting predicted he would be Prime Minister one day during an interview in 2018, a resurfaced clip has shown.
The Health Secretary, who was forced to deny planning a coup against Keir Starmer on Wednesday, was asked who will be PM in ten years’ time. Mr Streeting was one of several MPs to be asked the question for comedian Matt Forde’s Unspun series.
Paul Sweeney, Preet Kaur Gill, Rupa Huq and John Woodcock all predicted then-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, while Tory Tim Loughton suggested Kemi Badenoch. Asked for his answer on the comedy show, Mr Streeting joked “I think probably me”.
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The resurfaced clip came as Mr Streeting was forced to deny plotting a coup against Mr Starmer as speculation over the PM’s future broke out into the open. Mr Streeting hit out at a series of extraordinary comments briefed out last night, including a “silly” person in Downing Street. A cabinet minister also last night said he was at the mercy of newbie 2024 MPs who were “feral” in trying to oust the PM.
He said: “I do think going out and calling your Labour MPs feral is not very helpful. I do think trying to kneecap one of your own team when they are out not just making the case for the government but actually delivering the change that we promised – I think that is also self-defeating and self-destructive behaviour.
“I also think whoever did this doesn’t speak for the Prime Minister. I speak for the Prime Minister. That’s why I was asked to come on this morning to talk about the reform agenda in the NHS.”
The Health Secretary this morning compared the civil war to an episode of Celebrity Traitors, saying this is “the worst attack on a faithful” since rugby star Joe Marler was banished in last week’s BBC final. He backed the PM and said he was completely behind him.
Addressing the chaos at PMQs, Mr Starmer had praised the Health Secretary’s work in cutting NHS waiting lists – but faced laughter from the Tory benches as he insisted the Cabinet was a “united team”.
He also said Morgan McSweeney, his chief-of-staff, and his top team “are absolutely focused on delivering for this country.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch had asked if Mr Streeting was right when he said there was a “toxic culture in Downing Street that needs to change”. Mr Starmer replied: “My focus each and every day is on rebuilding and renewing our country. But let me be absolutely clear, any attack on any member of my cabinet is completely unacceptable.”
He said Mr Streeting had out-performed expectations by delivering five million extra appointments within the first year of a Labour government, higher than the two million pledged.
