Health Secretary Wes Streeting dominates the front pages, as Sir Keir Starmer continues to try and retain his premiership. “Wes, prime minister?” asks the Metro, reporting that Streeting has told his allies he will challenge Sir Keir on Thursday. It comes following what the paper describes as a “bombshell 16-minute face-to-face confrontation” in Downing Street on Wednesday, just hours before the King’s Speech.
The Sun says the Labour Party is in “civil war”, and Streeting is planning to “fire the starting gun” on a “bloody” leadership contest. Catherine, Princess of Wales, is pictured front and centre of the paper in a fitted blue suit with flared trousers. “My flare lady” is visiting Italy on her first overseas trip following treatment for cancer.
“Streeting prepares to quit ahead of No 10 challenge” reads the Times, which says the health secretary is expected to quit the government on Thursday morning to formally launch his campaign for No 10. The paper says this will trigger a three-way fight between Streeting, Sir Keir and a soft-left candidate, which it predicts will be Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham or Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. A government source has told the Times that a leadership contest would “essentially shut down” the government for months.
Streeting’s move to force a race has prompted a “frantic scramble”, the Guardian says, as the left of Labour looks for a candidate to oppose him. The paper suggests that Miliband and former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner are their key contenders, noting that while Burnham is a “favoured replacement” for Sir Keir, he does not have a Commons seat.
The Daily Telegraph is leading on Miliband’s possible bid for leadership, and says Sir Keir is expecting the energy secretary to “throw his hat in the ring” shortly after Streeting’s anticipated resignation. Sources told the paper that Miliband was the most likely proposition for the soft-Left faction of the Labour party, as Rayner was still dealing with unresolved tax issues. Much like the Times, the Telegraph has been warned that the leadership contest is likely to “plunge the country into chaos” by “paralysing” government and spooking the bond markets.
One of the few front pages not to feature a photograph of Streeting, the Mirror’s, instead focuses on an inquiry launched into a £5m gift received by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage. Political opponents have said that the gift, which was from billionaire Reform backer Christopher Harborne, should have been declared in the MPs’ register of interests. Farage has said he was under “no obligation” to declare the gift because it was given before he was an MP.
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