Labour has failed to tell a “coherent story” about the change it has delivered since last year’s general election, Wes Streeting has admitted.
The health secretary said Sir Keir Starmer’s party has had “a whole number of achievements” since coming to power last July, but has not done enough to convince voters it is changing the country for the better.
With Nigel Farage’s Reform UK surging, and Sir Keir’s approval ratings hitting record lows, Mr Streeting said positives such as falling NHS waiting lists have not yet cut through with voters.
Speaking on the Political Currency podcast with former Conservative chancellor George Osborne, he said: “Domestically, we have had a whole number of achievements. And I think about the things that we’ve done in our first year, I could rattle off a whole list of NHS ones in terms of waiting lists, child poverty – for example, the decision we’ve taken on free school meals will lift 100,000 children out of poverty.
“The last Labour government, which has been lauded for its record on child poverty, did 400,000 over 13 years. So that’s not a bad start.
“You’ve got a big public service reform agenda in justice, but… it’s not wrapped up in a coherent enough story about the change that we’re bringing.”
The health secretary also said he fears Britain is seeing a “major party realignment on the right” of British politics, with Reform starting to replace the Conservatives as Labour’s main opponents.
“The Conservatives feel less and less relevant in parliament, even though they’re much greater in number,” Mr Streeting said.
But he urged Sir Keir not to allow Mr Farage to set the agenda, adding that “our most successful moments in the last 12 months have been where we have set the agenda”.
He said: “People want to feel change. They want to feel like the government is driving the country forward in the right direction.
“We mustn’t fall into the trap of letting Farage set the terms of the debate for us.”
Mr Farage has held a series of press conferences in recent weeks on immigration and law and order as he seeks to pile pressure on Sir Keir over small boats and crime.
He has also led opposition to the use of hotels to house asylum seekers in communities across the country, calling for a wave of protests in the wake of a council’s successful legal challenge against one in Epping.
Despite Labour struggling to get its message across, Mr Streeting praised Sir Keir’s leadership and said the PM has always urged ministers to “go harder, go faster, be bolder”.
With Labour MPs increasingly discussing whether a leadership change would boost the party’s fortunes, Mr Streeting said: “There were so many times Keir was underestimated in opposition and written off in opposition, he sort of confounded his critics.”
