Wes Streeting faces narrow road to Labour members’ favour

“Country first, party second” is a mantra Keir Starmer and his cabinet have repeated since being in opposition, seeking to draw a dividing line between Labour and their Conservative predecessors’ inclination for self-destruction. But party members do matter in politics – and a key problem for Wes Streeting , one of those with ambitions to succeed Keir Starmer, is that many of Labour’s do not like him. Just before Labour’s heavy local election losses, a Compass survey of more than 1,000 members found that if they were given a free choice, 42% would pick Andy Burnham to succeed Starmer – against just 11% for Streeting. And whereas Burnham had a 44% favourability rating, only 18% felt the same towards the health secretary. That result put Streeting roughly on a par with Angela Rayner and Ed Miliband – but given those potential candidates and Burnham are firmly to his left, it would appear to suggest that the majority of the party would prefer not to have a candidate in Streeting’s place on the ideological spectrum. Both Miliband and Rayner were viewed favourably by comfortably more members than Streeting was. Among all the plotting and jostling for position in the leadership contest, that presents a serious challenge for Streeting. While he is thought to be the candidate most ready for a leadership contest, he is on the right of the party, formerly close to Peter Mandelson and of the Blairite Progress wing. …