Wes Streeting has called on Sir Keir Starmer to sack those responsible for “self-defeating” rumours about a Labour leadership challenge in an extraordinary attack on Downing Street.
The health secretary demanded change at the top of No 10 following reports that unnamed aides had accused him of plotting to oust Sir Keir.
Mr Streeting denied the reports, and he turned the tables on his unnamed No 10 critics, accusing them of “picking on him” and delivering an incendiary public denunciation of Sir Keir’s Downing Street.
Mr Streeting said it showed that deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell, an earlier reported victim of hostile Downing Street briefings, had been right to criticise the “culture” in No 10.
He categorically denied that he was plotting to oust Sir Keir, comparing suggestions he would do so to conspiracy theories.
He told the Today programme that “it shows Lucy Powell was right about the culture in No 10”, adding sarcastically: “I would just like to commend the briefer for at least picking on one of the men instead of the women in the cabinet.”
Asked what such anonymous briefings said about the PM himself, Mr Streeting said: “It shows there are people around the PM who do not follow his model and style of leadership.”
Pressed to say if Sir Keir should sack whoever was responsible for claiming Mr Streeting was plotting against him, the health secretary said: “Yes, but he’s got to find them first. And I wouldn’t expect him to waste loads of time on this.”
The late-night briefing came as part of a ploy to put down several senior Labour figures who were said to be “on manoeuvres” to supplant Sir Keir, according to media reports.
No 10 has singled out the health secretary to warn off other potential leadership challenges from senior Labour figures, including home secretary Shabana Mahmood and energy secretary Ed Miliband, the reports said.
In a series of broadcast interviews on Wednesday, Mr Streeting attacked whoever was responsible for the rumours, suggesting they had been “watching too much Celebrity Traitors”.
He told Sky News: “This is just about the worst attack on a faithful I’ve seen since Joe Marler was kicked out and banished in the final.
“It’s totally self-defeating briefing, not least because it’s not true and I don’t understand how anyone thinks it’s helpful to the prime minister either.”
And he called for Sir Keir to dismiss whoever was responsible for the briefing, if he could find them, telling the BBC’s Today programme they did not follow the PM’s “model and style of leadership”.
Meanwhile, the chair of the red wall group of Labour MPs, Jo White, also denied that Mr Streeting was angling to replace Sir Keir, telling the Today programme: “I’m not aware of a single person in the red wall group who’s involved in this.”
Ms White, a backbench MP, blamed the rumours on “a group of people who think they’re much cleverer than the rest of us, who spend their time selectively briefing journalists and stirring the pot”.
Mr Streeting said he believed Sir Keir would lead Labour into the next election, due in 2029.
In September, Ms Powell, who was fired as Commons Leader by Sir Keir earlier this year following similar unsourced Downing Street briefings against her, criticised the “culture” in No 10, claiming it was “not receptive to different views”.
Her call for changes in Downing Street and “fewer unforced errors” by Sir Keir and his team were seen as key parts of her successful campaign to replace Angela Rayner as deputy party leader.
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