Streeting: Labour ‘not even entertaining the prospect’ of Lib Dem coalition

Labour is “not even entertaining” the prospect of a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, according to Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting.

Streeting also argued Lib Dem recovery in Tory-held seats was a “path to a Labour majority” rather than a risk to it, as he faced a grilling over Labour’s options in a hung parliament in broadcast interviews on Sunday.

Asked by Sky’s Sophie Ridge if Labour was “prepared to go into coalition” with the Lib Dems, Streeting replied: “We’re not even entertaining that prospect, Sophie.”

He added: “I just don’t think that’s the scenario we’re going to be in after the next general election.”

It was not immediately clear if he was simply suggesting Labour was not currently “entertaining that prospect” given its hopes of a majority, or that it would not do so in the event of a hung parliament.

Streeting joked that even if Labour leader Keir Starmer was on his “way to the palace”, the media narrative would be that it had been a “difficult night for the Tories but Labour could have done better”.

Speculation over a potential hung parliament has shot up the political agenda after BBC, Sky and now Sunday Times analysis of Thursday’s local election results pointed to Labour becoming the largest party but falling short of an overall majority.

Pollster James Johnson noted earlier this week that this shifting media focus may be the “biggest consequence” of the local elections, affecting “which arguments loom large” in the run-up to the general election.

The Sunday Times has since reported that given their expected vote shares, “Labour and the Liberal Democrats could be forced into a form of coalition, possibly with the SNP”.

Streeting: Lib Dem recovery in Tory seats is ‘path to Labour majority’

Asked similar questions on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Streeting said the “Conservative party would love us to be talking about whether or not there’ll be a coalition”.

“We’re just not in that ballpark of talking about coalition government,” he said, before highlighting Labour’s key local election messages of cutting the cost of living, crime and NHS waiting lists.

He said Labour did think it could win a majority, with a Labour government “within our grasp”.  But he said there where “more policies still to come”, not only to convince people Labour could be trusted on issues that cost it votes previously but also to “give people hope back”.

Streeting added that the Conservatives had won in 2015 having “hoovered up a whole lot of seats in the south of England that are Lib Dem versus Conservative races”.

“A Lib Dem recovery in those areas isn’t somehow a risk to a Labour majority, it is a path to a Labour majority”.

Lib Dems don’t rule out Labour deal

Meanwhile Lib Dem leader Ed Davey notably declined to rule out the prospect of a Labour coalition as he has done for a Conservative coalition. “That is a hypothetical question,” he told Kuenssberg. “We don’t know what’s going to happen after the election.”

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper faced similar questions from Ridge about a Labour-Lib Dem “deal”, with Ridge noting Starmer and Davey had been seen having a “chat” at the coronation.

She said her party had a “laser-like focus on trying to get as many Liberal Democrat MPs elected as possible…we’re just not even contemplating or thinking about what might happen after that.”

Streeting: Local results ‘not a prediction of general election’

Streeting faced questions about Labour not making more gains in its projected national vote share based on the local election results too.

Labour figures have argued the local election results show the party is on course for a general election majority in recent days, but Streeting told Ridge that “we shouldn’t read local elections right across”.

He suggested that in Hull, where the Lib Dems held off a Labour challenge, and key target Worcester, where Labour gained seats but no overall control as the Greens advanced too, supporters of other opposition parties would back Labour against the Conservatives at general election.

But Labour is “not complacent about this”, he added, with more details promised this month on Labour’s NHS and education missions.

He also told Kuenssberg local election results were “not a prediction of a general election”, where Labour remains “confident” it can win.

The SNP question

The Labour Party is also likely to face further questions in the coming months over potential alliances with the Scottish National Party.

Such questions dominated the 2015 election campaign and were widely seen to have dented then-leader Ed Miliband’s chances, including a now-infamous advert showing him in the pocket of former SNP leader Alex Salmond.

Westminster SNP leader Stephen Flynn has already said that in a hung parliament, the SNP would “ensure the power to determine Scotland’s future is transferred to Edinburgh”, indicating it wanted devolution of the ability to call a referendum.

The SNP’s deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black has also said a “strong team of SNP MPs would put Scotland in the driving seat of a minority UK government”.

“With Keir Starmer’s pro-Brexit party becoming increasingly indistinguishable from the Tories, the SNP would drag the Labour Party to the left and demand real change.”