King stays calm as Labour lurches into crisis – and challenger emerges

London: Warring factions are set for a bruising fight over the Labour leadership after a brief pause to hear King Charles address the British parliament, with the government in disarray and Health Secretary Wes Streeting poised to seek the top job.

All sides stopped to hear the King’s speech at the opening of parliament in Westminster on Wednesday morning (London time) despite the turmoil over the government’s direction, as the monarch read out a policy agenda that may not survive a leadership spill.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer is daring his challengers to call a formal contest if they want to blast him out of the job, declaring he was chosen by the voting public at a general election and will stay focused on his work.

Streeting met Starmer for about 20 minutes in Downing Street on Wednesday morning to discuss the leadership, but made no public statement about his plans in the hours after their talks.

The Labour infighting overshadowed a looming problem for populist leader Nigel Farage and his Reform UK party, with the parliamentary watchdog investigating the party for not declaring a £5 million ($9.3 million) donation from a cryptocurrency investor.

Once the King had addressed parliament, Streeting’s allies briefed the British press on his intention to launch a challenge as soon as the following day.

The King marked the formal start of the parliamentary year by visiting Westminster in a time-honoured tradition that included an address in full regalia from the throne in the House of Lords, joined by Queen Camilla.

Meanwhile, the drawn-out ploys being used to put pressure on Starmer continued after a devastating defeat to Labour candidates at local and regional elections last Thursday, although Streeting faced new heat in parliament over his leadership moves.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch took a swipe at the health secretary during questions in the House of Commons when she accused the government of being slow to act on its promises to fix the National Health Service.

“I suppose the health secretary has been a bit distracted lately, hasn’t he? Why don’t you just do your job? Do your job,” Badenoch said to Streeting across the chamber, as he shot back an inaudible reply.

“There’s no point him giving me dirty looks,” she added. “We all know what he’s been up to.”

Streeting, 43, is a centrist who was president of the National Union of Students from 2008 to 2010, became a local councillor in a north London borough in 2010 and entered parliament in 2015. He has been health secretary since Labour won the general election in 2024.

The other main leadership contender with regular coverage in the media, Andy Burnham, is the Greater Manchester mayor and a key figure on the left, but he is not in parliament.

Burnham would be at a severe disadvantage in a leadership contest if Streeting moved quickly, before any MP could volunteer to give up his or her seat in the House of Commons to enable Burnham to claim it at a byelection.

The left flank of the party may put up an alternative candidate, such as Energy Minister Ed Miliband, in an attempt to block Streeting.

Labour rules state that a challenger must gain support from 20 per cent of the parliamentary party to trigger a challenge. The party has 403 members in the House of Commons, which means Streeting needs 81 to back him in a formal letter to the general secretary of the party, Hollie Ridley, a Starmer ally. This would trigger an election for the leadership among thousands of party members.

A key rule is that the voting is preferential, which could position Starmer as a middle-ground candidate if those on the right back Streeting and those on the left put up an alternative candidate. Starmer said this week he would stand if there was a contest.

Despite months of speculation, Streeting has made no public declaration about his intentions or his agenda if he were to become leader. His allies have instead briefed the media to talk up his support, which remains untested.

Starmer’s supporters have tried to fend off a challenge by issuing a letter of support backed by 110 MPs, while the prime minister has promoted allies to replace four junior ministers who quit on Wednesday and appear to be aligned with Streeting.

Burnham’s supporters have expressed hope for looser fiscal rules to allow more spending, but financial markets are sending a strong signal about investor concerns at government borrowing and political instability.

The yield on a 10-year UK government bond eased a little to 5.07 per cent on Wednesday. This is a broad measure of the government’s borrowing costs on its public debt, and it has risen from about 4.7 per cent one year ago.

The government’s public sector net debt is about £2.8 trillion ($5.2 trillion) and represents 94 per cent of GDP.

Farage has confirmed that he accepted the £5 million donation from Thailand-based ⁠billionaire and crypto investor Christopher Harborne in 2024, but said this was before he announced plans to seek a seat in parliament.

The BBC reported that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards was investigating the donation, prompting Reform to confirm the probe.

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