Wesley Paul William Streeting (; born 21 January 1983) is a British
Labour Party politician who has been the
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secretary of State f ...
since 2021, and
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
(MP) for
Ilford North since
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
.
He served as
Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty
The Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty was a position in the United Kingdom's Shadow Cabinet that was created on 9 May 2021 by the Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer during a cabinet reshuffle
A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle oc ...
from May to November 2021, as Shadow Minister for Schools from 2020 to 2021, and as
Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
The Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a member of the Official Opposition frontbench in the United Kingdom. The officeholder shadows the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. The current officeholder is Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare
...
from April to October 2020. He was also president of the
National Union of Students (NUS), and Deputy Leader of
Redbridge London Borough Council
Redbridge London Borough Council is the local authority for Redbridge in Greater London, England, and one of the capital's 32 borough councils. Redbridge is divided into 21 wards and elects 63 councillors. , Redbridge Council comprises 55 Labour ...
.
Early life, family and education
Streeting was born in
Stepney
Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, on 21 January 1983. Streeting's parents were teenagers when he was born.
He has five brothers, a sister and a stepsister.
His maternal grandfather was an armed robber who spent time in prison, and his grandmother became embroiled in his crimes and ended up in
Holloway jail, where she met
Christine Keeler
Christine Margaret Keeler (22 February 1942 – 4 December 2017) was an English model and showgirl. Her meeting at a dance club with society osteopath Stephen Ward drew her into fashionable circles. At the height of the Cold War, she became s ...
(a key figure in the
Profumo affair
The Profumo affair was a major scandal in twentieth-century Politics of the United Kingdom, British politics. John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War in Harold Macmillan's Conservative Party (UK), Conservative government, had an extramar ...
). According to Streeting, they "stayed in touch, they became friends." His grandmother was released from prison to give birth to his mother at
Whittington Hospital
Whittington Hospital is a district general and teaching hospital of UCL Medical School and Middlesex University School of Health and Social Sciences. Located in Upper Holloway, it is managed by Whittington Health NHS Trust, operating as Whitting ...
.
Streeting's two grandfathers, both named Bill, were key figures in his youth. His maternal grandfather was also familiar with the infamous East End
Krays
Ronald Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were identical twin brothers, gangsters and convicted criminals. They were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London, Engl ...
.
He was "really well read and well informed", and engaged his grandson in lively discussions about religion and politics. Streeting’s paternal grandfather served in the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
and later in the
merchant navy before becoming a
civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
. He recalled: "He was the grandad I was closest to. He was a traditional working-class Tory."
He grew up in poverty living in a council flat. He recalls
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
politicians in the 1990s "denigrating single-parent families like mine, which I took quite personally."
He attended
Westminster City School
Westminster City School is a state-funded secondary academy for boys, with a mixed sixth form, in Westminster, London. The school educates over 800 students, with links to more than 100 different cultures, in a central London location. The sch ...
, a comprehensive state school in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
, London. He went on to study history at
Selwyn College,
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. Streeting previously had left the Labour Party because he opposed its decision to enter the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
; however, he says
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
did not act with malign intent. Streeting came out as gay in his second year of university.
Streeting served as Selwyn College's
Junior Common Room
A common room is a group into which students and the academic body are organised in some universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland—particularly collegiate universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the University of Bristol ...
(JCR) President, in which capacity he was a member of
Cambridge University Students' Union
Cambridge Students' Union, known as Cambridge SU, is the university-wide representative body for students at the University of Cambridge, England. Its predecessor union was known as Cambridge University Students' Union or CUSU until its dissolu ...
(CUSU) Council. He was subsequently elected CUSU President for the 2004–05 academic year, a
sabbatical officer
In the United Kingdom a sabbatical officer is a full-time officer elected by the members of a students' union (or similar body such as students' association, students' representative council or guild of students), commonly at a higher education e ...
role. As CUSU President, he campaigned against the proposed closure of Cambridge's architecture department.
Working career
Streeting was elected as President of the
National Union of Students (NUS) in April 2008 as a candidate from
Labour Students
Labour Students is a student organisation within the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It is a network of affiliated college and university clubs, known as Labour Clubs, who campaign in their campuses and communities for Labour's values of e ...
, with the support of the
Union of Jewish Students
The Union of Jewish Students of the United Kingdom and Ireland (UJS) represents Jewish students in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is a member of the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS) and the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) and a ...
. He had been a member of the NUS National Executive Committee since 2005, having previously held the post of Vice-President (Education) from 2006 to 2008. In April 2009, he was elected to a second term as President of the NUS. He also served as a member of the National Committee of
Labour Students
Labour Students is a student organisation within the Labour Party of the United Kingdom. It is a network of affiliated college and university clubs, known as Labour Clubs, who campaign in their campuses and communities for Labour's values of e ...
for four years during this time.
As President of the NUS, Streeting was a strong proponent of his predecessor
Gemma Tumelty's proposed reforms to the NUS governance structures, which had been denounced and narrowly defeated by many left-wing groups in NUS as an attack on NUS democracy. His election was reported by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' as "a move that will lend weight to the fight to modernise the union". As NUS President, Streeting was a non-executive director of the NUS's trading arm,
NUS Services Ltd, and of
Endsleigh Insurance
Endsleigh Insurance is a Cheltenham-based UK insurance intermediary specialising in the student, education, graduate and sport markets. It is the preferred insurer for several unions and professional associations.
Endsleigh was established in ...
. He was also a non-executive director of the
Universities and Colleges Admissions Service
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a UK-based organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities. It operates as an independent charity, funded by fees charged to applicants an ...
(UCAS), as well as the Higher Education academy, having served on their board as Vice President (Education) when he was also a non-executive director of the
Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE). Shortly after his election as NUS President, Streeting was appointed as a member of the government's
Youth Citizenship Commission, chaired by Professor
Jonathan Tonge of the
University of Liverpool
, mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning
, established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...
, which published its report in June 2009. Streeting supported university
tuition fees
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spen ...
as President, consistent with UK government policy during the
New Labour
New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...
years.
Streeting worked for the
Labour Party-related organisation
Progress
Progress is the movement towards a refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. In the context of progressivism, it refers to the proposition that advancements in technology, science, and social organization have resulted, and by extension wi ...
for a year.
After completing his term as President of the NUS, Streeting served as Chief Executive of the
Helena Kennedy Foundation, an educational charity that promotes access to higher education for students from further education colleges. He went on to serve as head of education at
Stonewall, a
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity, where he led their Education for All campaign to tackle
homophobia
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...
in schools. He was subsequently a public sector consultant with
PricewaterhouseCoopers
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
(PwC), which he gave up on election as a councillor, because Redbridge Council was a "current audit client" of the firm; this forced him to choose between keeping his job or forcing a second by-election. In 2010, shortly after leaving PwC, Streeting was appointed as Head of Policy and Strategic Communications for
Oona King
Oona Tamsyn King, Baroness King of Bow (born 22 October 1967) is a business executive and former British Labour Party politician. She was a Labour Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green and Bow from 1997 until 2005.
Early life
Oona King was ...
's unsuccessful bid to win the Labour Party's nomination to be its candidate in the
2012 London Mayoral election
The 2012 London mayoral election was an election held on Thursday 3 May 2012, to elect the Mayor of London. It was held on the same day as the London Assembly election, and used a supplementary vote system.
The election was won by the incumbe ...
.
Politics
Local politics
In a July 2010 by-election, Streeting was elected as a Labour councillor for the Chadwell ward on
Redbridge London Borough Council
Redbridge London Borough Council is the local authority for Redbridge in Greater London, England, and one of the capital's 32 borough councils. Redbridge is divided into 21 wards and elects 63 councillors. , Redbridge Council comprises 55 Labour ...
. He held the seat for Labour by 220 votes, winning with 31.5% of the vote (a fall of 1.4% for Labour in the ward) on a 25.5% turnout (a fall of 34.5% in turnout). The by-election had been triggered by a previously elected candidate subsequently being found to be ineligible to serve on the council. Streeting was elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Group in October 2011. In 2014, he contested the Aldborough ward on Redbridge Council, winning 2,100 votes and defeating
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
opponent Ruth Clark.
At a public meeting of the Redbridge Citizens' Assembly on 6 May 2014, Cllr Streeting promised on behalf of his group that, if elected, he would not reduce the level of
Council Tax
Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge
The Community C ...
Support provided to low-income working-age residents. Once elected, the Labour council cut the level of support, so as to treble the amount of Council Tax paid by supported residents from April 2016; the council made a further reduction from April 2017, and made a third reduction from April 2018. In May 2014, Labour took control of
Redbridge Council
Redbridge London Borough Council is the local authority for Redbridge in Greater London, England, and one of the capital's 32 borough councils. Redbridge is divided into 21 wards and elects 63 councillors. , Redbridge Council comprises 55 Labou ...
for the first time and Streeting was appointed Deputy Leader of the Council. He resigned the latter in May 2015, shortly after being elected Member of Parliament for Ilford North. Whilst he remained a backbench councillor following his election to Parliament, he chose not to claim his councillor allowance. Streeting did not stand for re-election after being elected to Parliament, and ceased to be a councillor on 7 May 2018.
Parliamentary backbencher (2015–20)
In the
2015 UK general election
The 2015 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 7 May 2015 to elect 650 members to the House of Commons. It was the first and only general election held at the end of a Parliament under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Local ...
, Streeting was elected as the Member of Parliament for
Ilford North. Representing the Labour Party, he overturned a Conservative majority of 5,404, winning by 589 votes. After being elected to Parliament, Streeting was elected Honorary President of the
British Youth Council
The British Youth Council, known informally as BYC, is a UK charity that works to empower young people and promote their interests. The national charity, run by young people, exists to represent the views of young people to government and decisi ...
. He is also a Vice President of the
Local Government Association
The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association.
The LGA is p ...
and a Patron of
LGBT Labour
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is ...
.
Following his election, Streeting was described as a "long-time critic" of
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
, who was leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. He accused Corbyn of a "flat-footed and lackadaisical attitude" to tackling antisemitism which is "simply unacceptable". Prior to the
2017 UK general election
The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. The governing C ...
, he stated that he was "not going to pretend to have had a
damascene conversion" with regard to Corbyn's suitability as Prime Minister. His views provoked a response from Corbyn's supporters such as
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...
and the trade union leader
Len McCluskey
Leonard David McCluskey (born 23 July 1950) is a British trade unionist. He was General Secretary of Unite the Union, the largest affiliate and a major donor to the Labour Party. As a young adult, he spent some years working in the Liverpool Do ...
. Livingstone described him as "consciously undermining Jeremy and damaging the Labour party", while McCluskey said his reason for raising issues had been "about attacking Jeremy Corbyn". Streeting was among the 70 per cent of Labour MPs who nominated
Owen Smith
Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...
in the
2016 Labour Party leadership election.
In 2016 Streeting criticised the Labour Party for refusing a £30,000 donation from
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...
. According to Labour, the refusal was due to the company's poor record on worker's rights and hostile stance towards trade unions. Streeting campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
in the run-up to the
2016 EU membership referendum. His constituency subsequently voted by a small-margin in favour of leaving the European Union. Afterwards, Streeting campaigned for a
People's Vote
People's Vote was a United Kingdom campaign group that unsuccessfully campaigned for a second referendum following the UK's Brexit vote to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016. The group was launched in April 2018 at which four Members of Pa ...
, a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.
Ilford North has among the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in the UK. Streeting is a vice-chair of the
All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism
The All-Party Parliamentary Group against Antisemitism is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The group exists to "To combat antisemitism and help develop and seek implementation of effective public policy to combat antisemitism". The ...
, a co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on
British Jews
British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British citizens who identify as Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 2021.
History
...
and a supporter of
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...
. He is also a co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims and a supporter of
Labour Friends of Palestine and Middle East. In September 2018, he held the last in a series of London-wide consultations to create the
Working Definition of Islamophobia. In July 2018, Streeting called for "targeted economic sanctions" against Israeli settlements in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
in response to the Israeli government "grossly infringing on the human rights of Palestinians". In July 2019, Streeting was reported in the media as using abusive language towards a non-Jewish antisemitism campaigner.
Shortly before the
2019 UK general election, Streeting told a
Labour First
Labour First is a British political organisation associated with the Labour Party. It was originally founded in 1980 but refounded in 1988. Born out of the political right wing of the Labour Party's struggles with its left wing, it sees itself as ...
meeting that the party faced electoral oblivion in any snap poll due to the leadership's poor handling of Brexit and allegations of antisemitism. Following Labour's defeat in the general election, Streeting nominated
Jess Phillips
Jessica Rose Phillips (; born 9 October 1981) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Yardley since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence and Safeguardi ...
and
Rosena Allin-Khan
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (born 10 May 1978) is a British doctor and politician serving as Shadow Cabinet Minister for Mental Health since 2020. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting since the 2016 ...
in the 2020 Labour Party
leadership
Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...
and
deputy leadership elections, and endorsed
Ian Murray for the deputy leadership.
Opposition frontbencher (2020–)
Until the 2019 general election, Streeting was a member of the
Treasury Select Committee
The House of Commons Treasury Committee (often referred to as the Treasury Select Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administ ...
. After the election of
Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...
as Leader of the Labour Party, Streeting was appointed
Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
The Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a member of the Official Opposition frontbench in the United Kingdom. The officeholder shadows the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. The current officeholder is Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare
...
. On 16 October 2020, Streeting became
Shadow Minister for Schools in succession to
Margaret Greenwood
Margaret Greenwood (born 14 March 1959) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral West since 2015. She is a member of the Labour Party.
Biography
A former teacher and community activist, Greenwood later ...
, who had resigned the previous day following her opposition to the
Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill
The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021 (c. 4) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act makes provision for the use of undercover law enforcement agents and covert sources and the committing of crime ...
.
Abena Oppong-Asare
Abena Oppong-Asare (born 8 February 1983) is a British Labour Party politician. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Erith and Thamesmead in the 2019 general election. She and Bell Ribeiro-Addy, both elected in the 2019 general ...
replaced Streeting as
Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
The Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a member of the Official Opposition frontbench in the United Kingdom. The officeholder shadows the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. The current officeholder is Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare
...
. In the
May 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle, Streeting was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as
Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty
The Shadow Secretary of State for Child Poverty was a position in the United Kingdom's Shadow Cabinet that was created on 9 May 2021 by the Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer during a cabinet reshuffle
A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle oc ...
. He was promoted to the post of
Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care is an office within British politics held by a member of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. The duty of the office holder is to scrutinise the actions of the government's Secretary of State f ...
in the
November 2021 shadow cabinet reshuffle.
On 9 November 2022, Streeting was criticised after being overheard describing Corbyn as "senile" in the House of Commons. Streeting said the comment was made "in jest" and apologised to Corbyn for the comment later that day.
Political positions
Streeting is considered to be on the right of the Labour Party; however, he objects to being labelled a
Blairite
In Politics of the United Kingdom, British politics, Blairism is the political ideology of Tony Blair, the former leader of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister between 1997 and 2007, and ...
, saying: "There's no future for the Labour party if it's locked in a battle between two competing visions of the past. I don’t like being pigeonholed."
On health, in December 2021, in response to growing waiting times in the
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
, Streeting said the way to reduce waiting times was better pay and conditions, while keeping a check on the six figure salaries of managers and management consultants. He added: "The biggest priority is to recruit, train and retain staff for the long term." He also placed an emphasis on investment and reform. He said that the
UK government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
should concentrate on boosting wages for the lowest paid in the health sector. Streeting said that a Labour government would use whatever means necessary to ensure patients receive treatment, including using
private health providers. Following a visit to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in May 2022, Streeting suggested that the UK should embrace new
technologies in the health sector that are commonplace in Israel to improve outcomes. Streeting said he would stress to the
Treasury
A treasury is either
*A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry.
*A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...
that investment in
health and social care
Health and Social Care (often abbreviated to ''HSC'' or ''H&SC'') is a term that relates to services that are available from health and social care providers in the UK. This is a generic term used to refer to the whole of the healthcare provision ...
would boost the economy and focusing on prevention could save thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Following his election, Streeting was described as a "long-time critic" of
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
, who was
leader of the Labour Party from 2015 until 2020. He accused Corbyn of a "flat-footed and lackadaisical attitude" to tackling
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
, which was "simply unacceptable". Streeting was among the 70 per cent of Labour MPs who nominated
Owen Smith
Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...
in the
2016 party leadership election. He said: "I always thought that Jeremy Corbyn was unelectable and there was a fundamental moral objection to where he was on anti-Semitism."
Streeting campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom remaining in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
in the run-up to the
2016 EU membership referendum. In 2018, he stated that a
hard Brexit
In the wake of the referendum held in the United Kingdom on 23 June 2016, many new pieces of Brexit-related jargon entered popular use.Al Jazeera. (2018)''Brexit jargon: From backstop to no deal, 17 key terms explained'' (Al Jazeera) Retrieved 2 ...
would address voters' concerns regarding
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
and
migration
Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration
* Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another
** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...
but would provoke significant
economic harm. Streeting appeared in ''
The Sun'' and tweeted a link to the article saying he would be "tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime".
On immigration, in 2018, Streeting said: "I regularly make the point that we need better education and training for our own people, but we should be honest with our country that we also rely on attracting people from overseas, particularly with our ageing population and shrinking working age population."
Streeting is also pro-
devolution
Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...
of power to give
local authorities
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
greater control over
public policy
Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to solve or address relevant and real-world problems, guided by a conception and often implemented by programs. Public p ...
.
Streeting promoted the establishment of a Good Work Commission to bring together the relevant stakeholders to negotiate a new
employment rights settlement.
He also said he suggested "working with the best of British business to reform the worst of British capitalism".
Streeting wants to tax capital gains on the same basis as income and suggested replacing
inheritance tax
An inheritance tax is a tax paid by a person who inherits money or property of a person who has died, whereas an estate tax is a levy on the estate (money and property) of a person who has died.
International tax law distinguishes between an es ...
with a lifetime gifts tax. He also supports an increase in
corporation tax
A corporate tax, also called corporation tax or company tax, is a direct tax imposed on the income or capital of corporations or analogous legal entities. Many countries impose such taxes at the national level, and a similar tax may be imposed at ...
.
Streeting has also strongly criticised those campaigning against
LGBT+
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is an ...
education in schools.
Personal life
Streeting lives in
Redbridge, London. He is in a relationship with Joseph Dancey, a communications and public affairs adviser. The couple are currently engaged to get married. Streeting, who is a practising Anglican, says his faith is "about compassion, not walking by on the other side". He says it caused serious problems when it came to his sexuality: "My faith was a really big obstacle to accepting myself."
In May 2021, Streeting revealed he had been diagnosed with
kidney cancer
Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...
and would be stepping back from frontline politics while he received treatment for it. He had received a phone call from his urologist informing him that tests, initially for kidney stones, revealed he had kidney cancer. He was on a campaign visit at the time. However, because the cancer was noticed early, his prognosis was good even though he needed surgery to remove the kidney.
On 27 July 2021, Streeting announced that he had been declared cancer-free, following an
operation to remove one of his kidneys.
References
External links
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Councillor Wes Streeting Redbridge London Borough Council
Interviewwit
Tiger Televisionat
Birmingham City University
Birmingham City University (abbrev. BCU) is a university in Birmingham, England. Initially established as the Birmingham College of Art with roots dating back to 1843, it was designated as a polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic in 1971 and gai ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Streeting, Wes
1983 births
Living people
Alumni of Selwyn College, Cambridge
Councillors in the London Borough of Redbridge
Gay politicians
Labour Party (UK) councillors
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Labour Party (UK) people
Labour Friends of Israel
Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East
LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
LGBT politicians from England
Presidents of the National Union of Students (United Kingdom)
UK MPs 2019–present
Shadow Secretaries of State for Health
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019