Streeting would lose leadership contest against Keir Starmer, poll reveals

Wes Streeting would lose a leadership contest against Keir Starmer in a landslide result, according to exclusive polling by LabourList.

With the party seemingly on the brink of a leadership battle between the Health Secretary and the Prime Minister, polling conducted by Survation revealed that Streeting would secure just 23 percent of support among Labour members, compared to 53 percent for Starmer.

Support for Starmer in such a head-to-head has reached a new high, with Starmer holding a 34-point lead over Streeting, compared with a virtual dead heat in November last year.

The poll reveals that Starmer would also win a head-to-head contest against Al Carns, Darren Jones, Bridget Phillipson, Louise Haigh, Yvette Cooper, Shabana Mahmood and Lucy Powell.

However, Starmer would face defeat against Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham were he able to stand in a leadership contest, with Burnham securing just shy of two-thirds (61 percent) of support from Labour members.

Former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner and former leader Ed Miliband would also defeat Keir Starmer in a direct contest, according to the poll.

Keir Starmer has vowed to fight any potential leadership challenge and, as the incumbent, would not require the nomination of fellow Labour MPs to stand in the subsequent election.

Were Starmer not to stand as a candidate in a leadership contest, Streeting would lose a direct contest against Andy Burnham, Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband and Lucy Powell.

Polling also found that 57 percent of party members believe there should be a change of leader, with 84 percent of those wanting a timetable to be set out for his replacement.

If the Prime Minister does resign, 43 percent of members said they would want his departure to take effect by the Labour Party conference in late September, with only 12 percent believing he should resign with immediate effect.

‘Streeting facing Herculean task’

Emma Burnell, editor of LabourList, said: “This polling is very bad news for Wes Streeting’s hopes to defeat the PM in any contest. The membership – as demonstrated in our previous polling – may not be happy with Keir Starmer but when faced with a challenge from Wes they do not currently believe that is the change that is needed.

“Wes is a great communicator and were a contest to come down to just him and Keir Starmer it could be that he can persuade enough people to change their minds. That is – after all – the essence of politics. But as it stands he will be facing a Herculean task to do so.”

Damian Lyons Lowe, CEO of Survation, said: “In November last year, members were about as likely to back Wes Streeting as Keir Starmer in a hypothetical head-to-head membership contest.

“However, updates in February, and in member polling conducted yesterday and today (May 14) show a membership increasingly in support of the PM as the Health Secretary’s ambition to topple Keir Starmer have been made both plain and acute, while a significant minority of members – 36% – do not think there should be a change of leadership (57% do, 7% don’t know).

“The vast majority that do (84%) believe the PM should set out a timetable vs an immediate departure (14%) – with the most popular option being that a new leader is in place by conference in September (43%).”

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The poll is the latest in a series of regular polls LabourList is publishing in partnership with leading pollsters Survation, a member of the British Polling Council and a Market Research Society Partner.

Survation surveyed 1,124 readers of LabourList, the leading dedicated newsletter and news and comment website for Labour supporters, who also said they were Labour Party members between May 13 and 14.

Data was weighted to the profile of party members by age, sex, region, 2020 leadership vote and 2025 deputy leadership vote. Targets for weighting were drawn from the British Election Study and the results of the leadership and deputy elections.

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