Wes Streeting faces narrow road to Labour members’ favour

Health secretary’s soft-right credentials put him at a disadvantage even with reduced membership under Starmer

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“Country first, party second” is a mantra Keir Starmer and his cabinet have repeated since being in opposition, seeking to draw a dividing line between Labour and their Conservative predecessors’ inclination for self-destruction.

But party members do matter in politics – and a key problem for Wes Streeting, one of those with ambitions to succeed Keir Starmer, is that many of Labour’s do not like him.