British Health Secretary Wes Streeting handed in his resignation on Thursday, telling Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he has “lost confidence” in his “heavy-handed” leadership of the United Kingdom.Streeting opened the letter by listing his accomplishments in office, but he concluded that staying in his post would be “dishonourable and unprincipled” while Starmer remains in power.“Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift,” Streeting wrote. “This was underscored by your speech on Monday. Leaders take responsibility, but too often that has meant other people falling on their swords. You also need to listen to your colleagues, including backbenchers, and the heavy-handed approach to dissenting voices diminishes our politics.”
Starmer has been under growing criticism since the Labour Party lost a slate of local elections. Reform U.K., which is growing increasingly popular in the country for its populist views, was one of the parties that overtook Labour politicians.
“Last week’s election results were unprecedented — both in terms of the scale of the defeat and the consequences of that failure,” Streeting said before warning of the “threat” that Reform U.K. poses.
