𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Wes Streeting has achieved the glorious hat-trick of blowing up Keir Starmer’s premiership, scuppering his own chances of becoming Prime Minister and plunging Labour into civil war. Not a bad day’s work for a wannabe PM.

He finally detonated his resignation bomb after days of will-he-won’t-he speculation. But his kamikaze act could backfire spectacularly. Rival camps insist he doesn’t have the 81 MPs required to trigger a contest against Sir Keir.

Streeting’s allies claim everything is hunky-dory in that respect.

Whatever the numbers it’s blatantly clear that he is in a weaker position than he was 24 hours earlier.

His thinking that by giving time for Andy Burnham to make a Westminster comeback join any leadership race is a risky one.

The Greater Manchester Mayor is likely to command more support within the party, diminishing Streeting’s chances if it is a straight shootout between the two.

His Thursday lunchtime hit job also appears to have sealed Starmer’s fate.

The PM may well cling on for a bit longer – possibly months – but a leadership contest is now inevitable.

Streeting’s withering attack on the PM’s record will also strike a chord with exasperated colleagues, fueling existing anger within the party.

Others, including Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and Al Carns could throw their hat into the ring too, set the stage for Labour to tear itself apart.

First up there’s going to be a by-election in Makerfield after former minister Josh Simons said he would step down to make way for Burnham to run.

But he’s not a shoe-in for the northwest constituency, with Nigel Farage vowing to “throw everything at it”.

A leadership contest – in which Starmer could also stand in – is likely to follow that.

Things look set fair for a Summer of Labour discontent.