Wes breaks cover to challenge Keir – without even mentioning him | John Crace

In a keynote speech, Streeting, the natural salesman, made one thing clear: he was ready whenever the call might come

There must be a happy medium somewhere. Some ministers you can’t get to shut up, others refuse to say a word. On balance, Keir Starmer probably prefers it when they say next to nothing. On the grounds there is probably less that can go wrong. He likes it best when he is the one doing the talking as he is more in control of the message. The only trouble is, the public often prefer it when it’s someone else doing the talking. Especially when that person is Wes Streeting.

OK, so we all know that Streeting can be a bit annoying. No one is ever going to love Wes in quite the same way Wes loves Wes. The self-regard is total. And he has never made any secret that his ambition goes well beyond being health secretary. He wants the top job and will be among the first to put his name forward when Starmer decides – or has it decided for him – that enough is enough. And of course, Wes is constantly plotting. How do we know? Because he is breathing.