Wes Streeting is widely seen as one of the most likely candidates to succeed Sir Keir Starmer if the Prime Minister stands down from the top job in the coming weeks.
The i Paper understands that Streeting is unlikely to trigger a leadership challenge himself, but there have been reports that he is preparing a case – should a contest begin anyway.
After a historically bad set of local election results for Labour, that scenario looks increasingly plausible.
Shorts – Quick stories
Scroll to previous short
Scroll to next short
Dua Lipa’s Pyramid Stage headline performance in 2024 was streamed on bbc.com for international audiences (Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
ENTERTAINMENT
Why Dua Lipa has sued Samsung for $15m
Dua Lipa has filed a lawsuit against Samsung for at least $15m (£11m), accusing the South Korean tech giant of using a photo of her to sell its TVs.
Samsung began using an image of Lipa on an image of a TV screen printed on its cardboard packaging for a “significant portion” of its TVs sold in the US last year, according to the legal complaint filed in California on Friday.
No permission or compensation
The British popstar, 30, alleges that Samsung did not financially compensate her or seek permission for using her image, which was taken backstage before a performance at the Austin City Limits festival in 2024.
When Lipa became aware of Samsung’s use of the image June 2025, she says she immediately demanded that the company stop using it. However, the singer claims Samsung was “dismissive and callous” and “repeatedly refused”.
NEWS
3 min read
MUSIC
5 min read
Singer had ‘no say, control, or input’ in campaign
Ms. Lipa’s face was prominently used for a mass marketing campaign for a consumer product without her knowledge, without consideration, and as to which she had no say, control, or input whatsoever. Ms. Lipa did not allow and would not have allowed this use.
tHE LAWSUIT STATES
Dua Lipa at Milan Fashion Week in February 2023 (Photo: Arnold Jerocki/Getty Images)
Copyright claims
The lawsuit states that Lipa owns the copyright to the photograph that was used, and that it is a violation of the California right of publicity statute, a federal Lanham Act claim, and trademark claims.
The case also alleges that Lipa is “highly selective” in making product endorsements and that Samsung’s conduct “makes a mockery of her hard work in establishing a successful brand”. Samsung has yet to respond.
Lipa kept up the energy throughout (Photo: Shirlaine Forrest)
OPINION
4 min read
HEALTH
How the four-day week could reduce obesity
Caption: Embargoed to 0001 Saturday January 22
File photo dated 28/07/10 of an overweight man. Obese people are being encouraged to ask their pharmacist about a free online NHS weight loss programme. Issue date: Saturday January 22, 2022. PA Photo. Until now, obese patients with either high blood pressure or diabetes had to be seen by their GP before they could access the 12-week weight management plan in England. See PA story HEALTH Obesity. Photo credit should read: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Photographer: Dominic Lipinski
Provider: PA
Source: PA
Those who work longer hours are more likely to be obese, new research suggests, prompting experts to push for a four-day week in Britain.
Long days mean “time-poor” staff rely on unhealthy convenience food, have fewer opportunities to exercise, and register higher levels of cortisol – the stress hormone, all of which increase fat storage.
The research
The research, published at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, examined data from 33 countries working with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, including the UK.
It compared average working hours with obesity rates, and found nations with the highest rates of obesity, including the US and Mexico, had the longest working hours. Other countries, such as the Netherlands, had low obesity and low working hours.
Every 1 per cent reduction in working hours was associated with a 0.16 per cent decrease in obesity rates at a population level, the data suggests.
Switching to a four-day week could result in a 3 per cent fall in obesity rates.
If applied to England, where 13.5 million are obese, this would result in over 400,000 fewer obese adults.
A balanced life is a better life
We need to change the food environment and working conditions. When people have a more balanced life, they have a better life. They have less stress, they can focus on more nutritious food and engage in more physical activities
Dr Pradeepa Korale-Gedara of the University of Queensland in Australia, the study’s author
Try and eat vegetables of different colours for maximum nutrition (Photo: Getty)
Of the 33 countries in the study, the UK ranked ninth for obesity rates, but 24th in terms of working hours.
The average adult in England is forecast to work 1,505 hours a year in the UK, compared with 1,811 in the US.
(Photo: Charles Gullung/Getty).
Constant fatigue could point to anaemia (Photo: LaylaBird/Getty)
Dr Rita Fontinha, of the World of Work Institute at the University of Reading, said: “If you work two jobs or long hours, you simply do not have the energy to cook, and it becomes easier to just buy something packaged or processed.”
More than 200,000 workers have switched to a four-day week since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
What is the four-day week?
Active woman doing stretching exercise with friends – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
There is a growing movement in the UK towards a four-day week, where employees work one less day per week with no loss of pay.
Advocates argue companies can still maintain the same level of productivity, while also having wider health and societal benefits. Some say it may increase pressure to do the same amount of work in less time.
OPINION
3 min read
WORLD ANALYSIS
Trump faces his greatest rival this week. He needs a win
Only a few months ago, the prospect of a summit between Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping looked likely to be a bruising confrontation.
Last year, after Washington had imposed tariffs on Chinese goods that reached as high as 145 per cent at one stage, rhetoric on both sides hardened sharply.
Rising anxieties
Trump has tried to navigate the rising anxiety about China, which is one of the issues that has united Republicans and Democrats in the US for the best part of 10 years.
He has consistently expressed his admiration for Jinping, even when he was out of office. To his detractors, this was yet another sign that the US President has a soft spot for autocrats and dictators.
Trump and Xi Jinping tour the Forbidden City in Beijing in November 2017 (Photo: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
OPINION
3 min read
A ‘friendly’ summit
After a meeting between the two leaders in Busan, South Korea, last October, Jinping took a similar line. “China and the United States should be partners and friends,” he said.
Caption: U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event at The Villages Charter School at The Villages, Florida, U.S., May 1, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
Photographer: Nathan Howard
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
(Photo: Nhac Nguyen/Pool/AFP via Getty).
This does not mean that the anxieties that both countries have about each other’s motivations, ambitions or capabilities have dissipated. At the moment, however, it suits both sides to make this week’s summit as friendly and constructive as possible.
Iran war pressures
For the US, the opening of Pandora’s box that has followed the attacks on Iran means that, as well as being preoccupied elsewhere, there is a need to replenish heavily depleted weapons stocks.
That means that a moratorium with China is helpful, as is a loosening of Beijing’s tight controls on the export of rare earths and critical minerals.
Trump has been messaging his intentions accordingly.
Last month, he posted on Truth Social about the summit: “President Xi will give me a big, fat, hug when I get there in a few weeks. We are working together smartly, and very well!”
The cost of fighting
Trump cannot afford to pick another fight at a time when the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has put pressure not only on oil supplies but also on fertiliser, helium and the global economy as a whole.
That works well for Jinping, too. The optics of Washington treating China as a peer are good for the latter’s global stature.
Caption: TOPSHOT – US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2026. The United States will prevent all shipping from entering or exiting Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz for “as long as it takes,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday, the fourth day of the blockade. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: SAUL LOEB
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
OPINION
4 min read
Movement on both sides
That is why the meeting is likely to produce a set of carefully calibrated announcements designed to show that co-operation remains possible.
The United States is expected to push hard for major Chinese purchases of American goods.
China, meanwhile, will seek movement on export controls, semiconductor restrictions and investment barriers.
Analysis
4 min read
Analysis
6 min read
Streeting’s record in Government – and his willingness to break publicly with Downing Street on a number of key questions – gives a hint of what a Streeting premiership might look like.
Here is what Streeting in No 10 could mean for you…
Welfare and disability benefits
Streeting has frequently taken the view that the welfare system has become a barrier to work rather than a bridge. He told Sky News in March 2025 that the system should “do the two things it needs to do” – supporting those who cannot work, while acting as “a springboard back to work” for those who can.
The Health Secretary has also argued that there is an “overdiagnosis” of some mental health conditions. Speaking to the BBC in March of this year, he said: “I agree with that point about overdiagnosis… there’s too many people being written off.”
His department launched an independent review into the rising demand for mental health, ADHD and autism services last December, claiming that there were 13 times more people waiting for an autism assessment in September 2025 than in April 2019.
But Streeting has been careful to frame this as a clinical question rather than a cost-cutting exercise. “I know from personal experience how devastating it can be for people who face poor mental health, have ADHD or autism and can’t get a diagnosis,” he said when announcing the review.
The comments suggest that Streeting would likely follow the Government’s current approach to some degree should he enter No 10.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting meets patients at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, east London (Photo: Lucy North/PA)
Health and NHS
As Health Secretary, Wes Streeting has driven a “modernise or die” agenda focused on reforming and streamlining the health service.
One of his most eye-catching moves came in March 2025, when it was announced that NHS England would be abolished and its functions merged into the Department of Health and Social Care to cut bureaucracy and bring the service under direct democratic control.
In a major speech in March 2026, Streeting argued that “the NHS was broken” and required “a reformation, not more devotion”.
He outlined three key shifts for the future of healthcare: moving “from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, [and] from sickness to prevention”.
Streeting’s plans included expanding neighbourhood health centres, increasing the use of technology and AI, and improving access through the NHS app and online consultations.
He has not shied away from conflict with the medical establishment. He has taken a hard line against the British Medical Association over junior doctor strikes, and deferred plans to introduce 1,000 extra speciality training posts after junior doctors refused to call off a six-day strike earlier this year.
This attitude towards healthcare would likely carry on through a Streeting premiership.
Tax and economy
Streeting has struck a notably different tone on taxation from the Chancellor Rachel Reeves, suggesting he is more concerned about the overall burden on individuals and businesses than about raising additional revenue.
Speaking to The Observer in December 2025, the minister said he was “really uncomfortable with the level of taxation in this country”, adding: “We’re asking a lot of individual taxpayers, we’re asking a lot of businesses. We’ve got a level of indebtedness that we need to take very seriously.”
He has, however, drawn a clear distinction between ordinary taxpayers and the very wealthy.
In June 2023, he called on high-net-worth individuals to stop using “clever wheezes and accounting tricks” to reduce their bills, and to instead do their “patriotic duty” and contribute to “real improvements in public services”.
His frustration with the current economic direction has also surfaced in private. In messages to Lord Mandelson, he said Labour had “no growth strategy” – a direct criticism of Starmer and Reeves.
He later said he had been “proved wrong” and that Reeves deserved credit, but the original remarks are a clearer window into his thinking on whether the Government is going far enough on growth.
The Health Secretary has publicly denied any intention to challenge Starmer (Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing)
Foreign affairs
The area where Streeting has gone furthest beyond the Government’s stated position is Britain’s relationship with the EU.
In his December 2025 Observer interview, he argued that “the best way for us to get more growth into our economy is a deeper trading relationship with the EU,” and said that leaving the bloc had cost the country “the enormous economic benefits that came with being in the single market and the customs union”.
Streeting was careful to add that any partnership “can’t lead to a return to freedom of movement,” but the overall thrust of his remarks went further than the current EU reset, which he described as “a good start”.
His comments appeared to leave open the possibility of a customs union – something the Government has previously ruled out.
Starmer did, however, hint in his reset speech on Monday that he would be willing to look again at rejoining the EU single market. That may be a sign that Streeting’s thinking could have broader support within the party that the Prime Minister wants to capitalise on.
Immigration
Streeting’s position on immigration is more nuanced than that of the Government he serves in.
He has expressed personal discomfort with aspects of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s plans for forced deportations of families with children.
Asked directly on LBC whether he was comfortable with the policy, he said: “Honestly? Comfortable? No. But is it the right thing to do for the country? Yes.”
But, equally, he has defended the Government’s current hard-line approach, which includes raising skilled worker salary thresholds, making refugee status temporary with 30-month reviews and extending the wait for permanent settlement to 20 years.
Speaking to GB News last September, he said that the UK does need to “take a tougher line on this” and that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had a “determination to grip this problem and to secure our borders”.
Overall, this suggests he could maintain much of the Government’s tough approach on borders and removals, though he may be open to softening its application in some areas like family reunion.