Who would be in Wes Streeting’s corner if he ran for the Labour leadership?
For all that Labour’s left denounce Wes Streeting as a reincarnated Blairite, he has friendships and alliances across various Labour factions, not all of which lean into each other.As he considers a bid to challenge Keir Starmer, the MPs supporting him are not ideological clones.Some are personal allies, while others simply see him as one of the few senior Labour figures capable of communicating beyond Westminster.Former health ministerThe Glasgow South West MP is among the small group of Streeting-supporting junior ministers who resigned on Tuesday.Working in Streeting’s health department, the former surgeon collaborated closely with Streeting on NHS reform.
Ahmed used his resignation to publicly criticise Starmer’s leadership.Former safeguarding ministerOne of the better-known ministers, despite her officially junior role covering safeguarding in the Home Office, Phillips also resigned on Tuesday as Streeting’s allies sought to pick up momentum to push Starmer out.The Birmingham Yardley MP departed with a stinging letter of departure, saying the prime minister was too cautious and wedded to process to deliver bold action, even in her vital brief.Former parliamentary private secretary to StreetingThe MP for Hexham since 2024 – the first Labour representative for the Northumberland seat since it was created – was Streeting’s own parliamentary private secretary (PPS), the lowest rung of frontbench work.His resignation on Monday evening was seen as firing the starting gun on a possible Streeting bid.
The two are close – Streeting travelled north to campaign for Morris to become an MP,Former victims ministerThe Pontypridd MP, who was the well-regarded victims minister in the Home Office, is also viewed by colleagues as in Streeting’s orbit, and resigned on Tuesday,She was also adamant that Starmer should step down, writing in her resignation letter to him: “I implore you to act in the country’s interest and set out a timetable for your departure,”Chair of Labour Growth GroupAnother 2024-intake MP, after taking Milton Keynes North from the Conservatives, Curtis is chair of the influential Labour Growth Group, which lobbies on economic and planning reform,Speaking on Monday after a speech by Starmer in London, Curtis said it had not done enough to save the prime minister, and that he should set a timetable to leave.
MP for Central AyrshireYet another member of the 2024 intake, the Central Ayrshire MP and former diplomat is close to Streeting, and like Curtis, on Monday called on Starmer to resign.Former parliamentary private secretary to David LammyAlso a 2024 arrival, and also a Scottish MP, representing Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, Ward was PPS to David Lammy, the justice secretary and deputy PM, before stepping down on Monday amid a wave of resignations by Streeting allies.Business secretaryThe business secretary has been publicly loyal to Starmer so far, and thus has not acted like an outrider, as those above have.But Kyle, who represents Hove and Portslade, is very close friends with Streeting, and shares a similar ideological viewpoint.Sent out to represent the government on Monday’s early media round, Kyle dismissed the idea of Streeting mounting a challenge, saying that in the wake of last week’s local elections, rather than plotting the pair had gone out to dinner and to watch The Devil Wears Prada 2 at the cinema.
The Spin | ‘We have a hoot on the field’: Oswestry CC boasts 10 mother-daughter pairs
Women and Girls section has built strong family dynamic since launching in 2018 – and embraced Wags monikerThe acronym Wags first entered popular consciousness in 2006 during England’s football World Cup adventures in Baden-Baden. Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Tweedy and the gang became a sneering tabloid obsession, their matching outfits, nightclub antics and hair extensions gleefully picked apart.Twenty years later, a very different set of Wags are causing a stir at Oswestry Cricket Club on the north Shropshire-Wales border. The thriving Women and Girls section (WaGs) has an astonishing 10 mother and daughter pairs who have played competitive cricket together, ranging from 12 years old to 67.The oldest member is the irrepressible Jools Payne, team manager and founding player
From the Pocket: Voss coached the way he played and his brutal football failed Carlton
When John Elliott died in 2021, the old, dark, imperial Carlton was dead. The new Carlton was grounded on “respect, humility and integrity”. The new president was a master networker. The new chief executive was the best administrator in football. The new coach had been one of the great players of his generation
Cleary to finish up as Panthers coach and end greatest modern-day NRL dynasty
Ivan Cleary has 18 months remaining in his current role at the Penrith Panthers before the four-time premiership-winning NRL coach steps aside and his assistant Peter Wallace takes over.The 55-year-old announced on Wednesday he would not renew his contract when it expires at the end of next season, but will remain in Penrith in an advisory role beyond 2027.He said he had mulled over the decision for the past 12 months.“It’s a decision that I haven’t taken lightly,” Cleary said. “But I’ve thought about [it] for quite a long time
Billy Knight obituary
Billy Knight, who has died aged 90, was a stalwart of British tennis long before Andy Murray changed the landscape of the game in the UK.During the 1950s and 60s – an era that saw his compatriots Mike Davies, Bobby Wilson and Mike Sangster struggle to challenge the dominance of Australian and American players – Knight racked up 47 singles titles, won 21 of his 34 Davis Cup matches and earned a grand slam title at Roland Garros by teaming up with Mexico’s Yola Ramirez to win the French mixed doubles crown. Earlier he had been a Wimbledon and Australian junior champion.Unusually for a British player, Knight was a clay court specialist. With a game based on powerful ground strokes and an effective left handed serve, he won the British Hard Court Championships at Bournemouth three times (in 1958, 1963 and 1964) and, on the slowest of red clay courts in Hamburg, took the German title over the South African No 1, Ian Vermaak, in 1959
Rory McIlroy claims he knew LIV was in trouble and breakaway tour was always a ‘risk’
Rory McIlroy has revealed he heard rumblings of impending trouble for LIV Golf weeks before Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) confirmed it would withdraw funding for the circuit. The Masters champion believes the PIF approach highlights the danger of sport becoming reliant on anything that can be affected by world affairs.LIV is engaged in a race against time to survive with PIF, which has bestowed more than $5bn (£3.7bn) on the tour, to exit at the end of 2026. News of that, which emerged in the immediate aftermath of McIlroy’s successful defence at Augusta National last month, shocked those within LIV but not the Northern Irishman
Jake Paul admits broken jaw from Anthony Joshua fight may have ended boxing career
Jake Paul has admitted the broken jaw he suffered during his loss to Anthony Joshua in December may have ended his boxing career.The YouTuber turned boxer was stopped during December’s fight after a brutal shot from former world champion Joshua. Paul said the injury is still being monitored five months later.“We’ll see what my doctors say,” Paul told Uncrowned on Monday. “I’ll be able to get a more accurate timeframe, or can I even fight again? That is definitely in the realm and possibilities of things [that I can’t]
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