Wes Streeting has said he will be running for Labour leader after delivering his first speech today since resigning as the country’s health secretary. “We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I’ll be standing,” he told reporters at a conference in central London.Mr Streeting dramatically quit his ministerial role on Thursday, and he used a speech at the Progress conference to lay out his platform, including eventually rejoining the EU. His allies say he will run in any potential Labour leadership contest despite his glowing endorsement that Andy Burnham is Labour’s “best chance of winning” the Makerfield by-election.Mr Burnham will be allowed to stand in Labour’s candidate selection process for the Makerfield by-election, taking him a step closer to challenging Sir Keir Starmer for the leadership of the party.The Greater Manchester mayor said he is standing in the Makerfield by-election to "save" Labour. Speaking to the BBC he added, Labour has to acknowledge it has "not been good enough". Education secretary Bridget Philipson told BBC Radio 4’s The Week in Westminster programme that Mr Burnham would be a “strong candidate” but said Sir Keir had her “full support”.Rebecca Whittaker16 May 2026 16:45Rebecca Whittaker16 May 2026 16:30Andy Burnham says he is running in election to 'save' LabourAndy Burnham has said he is running in the Makerfield by-election to "save" Labour.Speaking to the BBC, the mayor for Greater Manchester said Labour has to acknowledge it has "not been good enough", adding it "requires a lot of change"."I want Labour solidly to be the part of working class people people are working class and that requires a lot of change,” he added.It comes after he was given the go ahead by the NEC to run in the by-election. Rebecca Whittaker16 May 2026 16:20Former health secretary says he would campaign for Andy BurnhamWes Streeting has said he will campaign for Andy Burnham, should he be the Labour candidate in the upcoming Makerfield by-election.Asked by an audience member what would happen in a future Labour leadership contest should Mr Burnham not win the seat, the former health secretary said: “First of all, we’ve got to be in it to win it in Makerfield, I know there’ll be differences of opinion about whether it was right for Josh Simons to vacate the seat in the way that he did is a hell of a risk, but I honestly think that if anyone could win that by-election, Andy Burnham can.“And I’ll be out there going door-knocking day after day to help get him elected. I hope all of you will too.“I love a by-election. I wish we didn’t have so many of them, and I’ll be proud to campaign for Andy Burnham.”Britain’s former Health Secretary Wes Streeting (Reuters)Rebecca Whittaker16 May 2026 16:15Streeting pledges to take on 'vested interests' in housing Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:Wes Streeting has told the conference that “if we are not building homes for the next generation then we are failing the next generation”.He added that when it came to the natural environment “the species I’m most worried about at the moment are children who living in mouldy bed and breakfasts".Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 May 2026 15:59Streeting calls for return to EU as he makes leadership bidWes Streeting has said leaving the EU was a “catastrophic mistake” as he called for a new “special relationship” with the union. He said: “Today’s politics must deal with the immediate issues that concern voters - affordability, small boats, the NHS - but we also need it to rise to the big issues that define our age. We need a bigger politics. Let’s embrace diversity of thought and competition for ideas as a strength.“We won’t find radical solutions by ignoring ideas in favour of just problem solving – as though government is the same as management consultancy – or if we believe that one person or one political tradition has a monopoly on ideas and wisdom. “At the core are three big important choices we have to make as a country that can help us regain our sense of progress. “First, leaving the European Union was a catastrophic mistake. In 2026, the British people increasingly see that in a dangerous world, we must club together, both to rebuild our economy and trade, and improve our defence against the shared threats from Russian aggression and America First. The biggest economic opportunity we have is on our doorstep. We need a new Special Relationship with the EU, because Britain’s future lies with Europe - and one day back in the European Union.Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 May 2026 15:47Wes Streeting confirms he will be standing in Labour leadership contestWes Streeting confirmed he will be standing, should a Labour leadership contest to replace Sir Keir Starmer be triggered. “We need a proper contest with the best candidates on the field, and I’ll be standing,” he told reporters at a conference in central London. Mr Streeting, who this week stood down as health secretary, also insisted he did have enough support among MPs to trigger a contest, but suggested his challenge would “lack legitimacy” without rival Andy Burnham being given a chance to return to Parliament.He told the Progress think tank conference: “Firstly, I do have support in the parliamentary party, but this week I also had a choice. “We could have rushed straight into a leadership contest, knowing not all of the candidates would be on the pitch, that Andy Burnham was about to stand in a by-election, and that if we had rushed ahead without giving Andy a chance to stand, the new leader, whether it was me or anyone else, would lack the legitimacy, and so we would end up extending instability and uncertainty. “That might have been the self-interested thing to do for candidates who are in Parliament presently, but it wasn’t in the party’s interest and wasn’t in the national interest.”Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 May 2026 15:44'Nigel Farage and Reform seek to exploit division and hatred to benefit from it'Wes Streeting added: “We’ve also seen Jews murdered and attacked in their shuls and on our streets, kids in my constituency trying to hide their school uniforms and stars of David because they fear being abused or attacked just for being Jewish. ‘Globalise the intifada’ in deeds, not just words. “Nigel Farage and Reform seek to exploit division and hatred to benefit from it. And when it comes to antisemitism on the left, the Green Party choose to look the other way because their party is now riddled with that which we expelled. “This is our fight. It has always been Labour’s fight. Not just to confront the forces of racism, discrimination and hatred, but to build a path to a better and brighter future for everyone.”Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 May 2026 15:28Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 May 2026 15:24Wes Streeting went on: “We’ve seen mosques set on fire and vandalised, Muslim women harassed because of what they wear. Diminishing our country and forgetting our history: that the fight for Britain’s liberty was also a fight against fascism, waged by people from these islands alongside the largest volunteer army in the history of the world - made up of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs from India and troops from across the modern Commonwealth.“There are no second-class citizens in this country. Black, white, rich, poor, gay, straight, religious, atheist, man, woman: that flag belongs to all of us, not just some of us.”(PA)Maryam Zakir-Hussain16 May 2026 15:20