Wes Streeting's resignation letter to Premier Starmer

Last week's election results were unprecedented, both in terms of the magnitude of the defeat and the consequences of that failure.

For the first time in our country's history, nationalists are in power in every corner of the UK - including a dangerous British nationalism represented by Nigel Farage and Reform UK.

This poses an existential threat to the future integrity of the United Kingdom, but Reform UK also poses a threat to the values and ideals that have made this country great.

Progressives across the country understand this threat and our responsibility to address it, but they are increasingly losing faith in the Labour Party's ability to live up to our historic responsibility to defeat racism and offer hope that Britain's best days lie ahead through social democracy.

There is no doubt that the unpopularity of this government has been an important and common factor in our defeats in England, Scotland and Wales.

Good Labour lost through no fault of its own.

There are many reasons we could point to: from individual policy mistakes such as the decision to cut the winter fuel subsidy to the talk of the 'island of foreigners' (in May 2025 Starmer announced tightening immigration, ndr), highlighting the risk of communities no longer understanding each other and not forming a cohesive nation.

The plan includes restrictions on visas, work and reunification that have left the country without knowing who we are or what we really stand for.

You have many great strengths that I admire. She led our party to a victory that few thought possible in 2024 and I was proud to fight alongside her in the trenches of that campaign. She has shown courage and political skill on the world stage, not least by keeping Britain out of the Iran war.

But where we need a vision, we have a void.

Where we need a direction, we have a drift. 

This was underlined by his speech on Monday (11 May 2026, ndr). Leaders take responsibility, but too often this means that other people fall on their swords.

You also have to listen to your colleagues, including the parliamentary backbenchers and the heavy-handed approach to dissenting voices detracts from our policy.

As a member of your government, I know better than most that governing is difficult.

It should be, because it is important. The country faces enormous challenges. For the first time in our history, the next generation faces a legacy worse than the previous one.

Wars are raging in Europe and the Middle East that make our challenges more difficult, not easier.

We are at the foot of a technological industrial revolution that has huge implications for every aspect of our lives, not least the future of work.

It is unclear whether democracy or tyranny will define the 21st century.

After the financial crisis, austerity, the Brexit disaster, Liz Truss, the coronavirus pandemic, the war in Ukraine and now the war in Iran, the country needs to believe again that things can be better than this and that politics is part of the answer, not the source of the problem.

These are big challenges that require a bold vision and bigger solutions than the ones we are offering.

It is now clear that she will not lead the Labour Party at the next general election and that Labour MPs and trade unions want the debate on what is to come to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or small factions.

It must be wide and have the best possible candidate field.

I am in favour of this approach and hope you will favour it. Serving as Secretary of State for Health and Social Welfare has been the greatest joy of my life, and regardless of our differences this week,

i am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve and am deeply saddened to be leaving the government in this way.

* Secretary of State (Minister, ed.) resigned for Health and Social Care UK