Streeting demisionează pentru a înfrunta Starmer în lupta pentru conducerea Partidului Laburist

Labour’s civil war is set to plunge the nation and the party into a summer of chaos – if the challengers to Sir Keir Starmer can get their act together.With an ever-changing field of candidates and permutations it is not even confirmed Sir Keir will even face a challenge.Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been tipped to quit the cabinet today to take on his boss. But under party rules he and any other challenger needs the written backing of 20 per cent of its MPs – currently 81 – to make it official.It is not yet clear if he has that many, meaning he could yet be forced to abandon his bid in an embarrassing climb-down.But if he does have the numbers it will open the floodgates for other challengers to come forward, including former deputy PM Angela Rayner, Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, Net Zero Secretary Ed Miliband and Armed Forces Minister Al Carns.If more than one of Rayner, Burnham and Miliband run they could split the vote among members on the party’s left, allowing the more moderate Streeting to come through the middle – or for Starmer to stay in No10.But much will depend on Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC), which will set the rules of the contest.Here the Mail tries to answer some of the outstanding questions about just what is going on. Labour’s civil war is set to plunge the nation and the party into a summer of chaos – if the challengers to Sir Keir Starmer can get their act together.Will a new Prime Minister trigger a general election? Almost certainly the answer is no. The next election is due in 2029 and there is no rule that says that a change in Prime Minister must trigger one. Under the UK electoral system, the public vote for their local MP, and it is then up to the party with the most seats to choose the PM during their time in office.And with Labour doing so badly in the polls it would be a high-risk move by any new leader that could put Nigel Farage in No10. However, more than half of the public (53 per cent) polled by YouGov last week said there should be a general election if Sir Keir is replaced.The idea was backed by more than a third (35 per cent) of Labour voters. Yesterday, Lord Hutton, the Labour peer and former defence secretary, told Times Radio any potential replacement ‘absolutely cannot steal Keir Starmer’s mandate’ and should call a general election. Who are the contenders? At the moment, no one has officially declared that they are running to replace Sir Keir, but that could change within hours.Mr Streeting is tipped to officially launch a challenge today. He is an MP in East London and has been Health Secretary since the 2024 election. He is seen as being on the moderate, Blairite wing of the party. If he won he would be the UK’s first out gay prime minister. Ms Rayner has not officially said she will run, but in a well-timed announcement she announced today she had been cleared by the taxman after underpaying tax when buying an £800,000 holiday home. The row forced her to re