London — 

Wes Streeting has resigned as Britain’s health secretary, saying Thursday that he has “lost confidence” in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership and that it would be “dishonourable and unprincipled” to remain in his government.

The move comes after days of speculation about whether Streeting would formally challenge Starmer’s leadership of the Labour Party. In his letter to the prime minister, Streeting announced his resignation from government, but did not say that he was launching a leadership contest.

In order to trigger that contest, Streeting needs to gain the support of one fifth of Labour’s members of parliament (MPs) – at present, 81 lawmakers.

Starmer has been facing a revolt in his Labour Party since it suffered a drubbing in local elections in England and parliament in Scotland and Wales last week, which has spurred nearly 90 Labour lawmakers to publicly call for Starmer to resign. Streeting is the first member of Starmer’s government to resign since the mutiny began.

In his letter, Streeting said last week’s elections had put “nationalists in power in every corner” of the country, which he said could threaten the breakup of the United Kingdom. He said that progressive voters were “losing faith” in the Labour Party, citing Starmer’s missteps which he said had “left the country not knowing who we are or what we really stand for.”

“Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift,” he said.

Streeting claimed it is clear that Starmer will not lead Labour into the next general election, due in 2029, and called for a broad debate about “what comes next,” spanning “the best possible field of candidates.”

Downing Street did not immediately respond to Streeting’s resignation. All week, however, it has insisted that Starmer has no intention of resigning. In a speech Monday, Starmer vowed to stay in post, saying that a change in leadership would plunge Britain back into the “chaos” that flourished under the Conservative Party, which ousted two leaders in the two years before Starmer came to power in a landslide election in 2024.

This is a developing story. More to come.