'Stshow at the fk factory': Inside Streeting's plan B - and the stalled coup

Jane Merrick, Kitty Donaldson, Richard Vaughan, Arj Singh, Chloe Chaplain · 2026-05-14T15:07:26+00:00

On Wednesday evening – hours before Wes Streeting’s resignation – his allies were out in the Commons bars searching for more Labour MPs to support his bid to topple the Prime Minister.

Rival MPs in Keir Starmer’s camp had been claiming all week that the health secretary did not have the 81 names required to officially challenge the leader – a claim strongly disputed by Streeting’s allies.

But whatever the truth of the competing spreadsheets, Labour MPs were thin on the ground in the Strangers’ Bar and on the Commons terrace because many were being lobbied by the Prime Minister himself, who was hunkering down not very far away in his parliamentary office.

I’m an ageing expert, these are the biggest mistakes people make when retiring

Lessons on living to 100 from Sir David Attenborough

I made eight tweaks to increase my lifespan – and felt instantly happier

Everything you need to know about napping

Things that are causing damp in your house

How to fake your way to being organised

Eight ways to combat loneliness

Six reasons your partner might cheat

The eight biggest mistakes we make when retiring

Psychologist and author Dr Denise Taylor says we shouldn’t sleepwalk into retirement, nor stop walking, just because everyone else has.

The mistakes we make when retiring

Many clients tell me their biggest regret was spending too little when they were healthiest and most able to enjoy it.

Boredom in retirement is misunderstood. It’s rarely about having nothing to do. It’s about having time without meaning.

People prepare financially and practically, but don’t do the psychological work of leaving well.

Waiting to plan what’s next

Once the structure of work disappears, people can slip into a narrower way of being. Start sketching out possible paths at least two years ahead. Even rough ideas about what you might want to explore – creative projects, volunteering, learning. DR DENISE TAYLOR

Common mistakes she sees

Not preparing as a couple

Discuss how much time you want together, and what kind of lives you’re moving towards, rather than assuming it will naturally align.

Trying to stay busy

Without noticing what drains your energy, activity becomes a way of bypassing the deeper adjustment.

Treating it as an ending

People can find themselves psychologically stranded. Days begin to blur into one another.

Retiring because everyone else is

For a generation raised to expect retirement at a certain age, default timing can feel normal.

The timing is personal.

The mistake is retiring without questioning whether that timing actually fits your own life. It ignores your relationship with work, your health and your finances.

I'm ready for retirement but my wife won’t leave her job – it's driving us apart

1For some a gradual shift is best like working fewer days or changing role, slowing down.

2Experiment before you leave. Taking a sabbatical or reducing hours can show you how retirement might feel.

3Prioritise a small number of meaningful anchors: one regular commitment, one place where you feel known and one activity.

4Slow it down psychologically – question default timing, resist expectations and ask yourself what kind of transition you are actually stepping into.

The national treasure has celebrated his centenary

For all the inspiring insight into nature that Sir David Attenborough has given us, he has also shown us how to age well. Here, Chief Features Writer Kasia Delgado looks into his lifestyle, and the tips he’s shared to live to 100.

Putting your feet up is all very well, but it’s very boring, isn’t it?

In the last two years alone, Attenborough has done voiceovers on a number of projects, including Wild London, and a National Geographic Disney film, Ocean.Although his workload has remained high, he did acknowledge in 2017, that as he ages, he sometimes finds it harder to recall correct words as quickly as he did before.

In his 90s, Attenborough has cut back on red meat, and begun eating an increasingly vegetarian diet.Whether as he said, he “simply lost the taste” for meat, or whether it was an environmental or health reason, the NHS advises that eating a lot of red and processed meat increases your bowel cancer risk at any age.

Six lessons on living to 100 from Sir David Attenborough

Attenborough has previously said he has “never done exercise” in an official capacity.

But he has kept active by going for walks in Richmond, where he lives.

Interviewers who have been to his home have also mentioned him practically skipping down the stairs of his house.

David Attenborough's 16 best TV moments (you will definitely cry)

When Sir David’s wife Jane died in 1997, the couple’s adult daughter Susan moved in with her father. He said at the time: “I’m quite used to solitude in the wilds but, no, an empty house is not what I enjoy.”

He’s also been known to respond personally to fan letters and maintain relationships with people who admire him. He has no iPhone or email address and instead prefers to communicate by handwritten letter.

It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living

Forget lifespan, everyone is focused on extending their healthspan: meaning, the number of years you live in good health

So what tiny tweaks can you make to your daily routine to extend a fulfilled life? Health writer Rosie Fitzmaurice tried some out.

Analysis from the University of Sydney found that getting an additional five minutes of sleep, two minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity and an additional half-serving of vegetables per day could lead to an extra year of life.

Getting seven to eight hours of sleep each night, more than 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise each day and following a healthy diet, were traits associated with almost a decade of additional lifespan.

Daily tweaks to make

Daily spoonful of beans

One large study found that an intake of 20g of legumes daily may reduce a person’s risk of dying in any given year by up to eight per cent.

Most people in the UK eat around 16–18g fibre a day but 30g is recommended.

One major study found those who ate the most olive oil (more than half a tablespoon a day) had a 19 per cent lower risk of death from any cause.

Daily tweaks to make

4There are benefits to eating an early dinner when we’re insulin sensitive and strolling afterwards to help digestion.

5Vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity – rather than structured exercise -ccould reduce the risk of a heart attack.

6Strength training is still important and just 30 to 60 minutes each week is associated with a 10 to 20 per cent lower risk of death.

7Balance training improves neuromuscular co-ordination and proprioception, which are critical for preventing falls.

Rosie puts this to the test

She had a helping of beans daily and loaded her breakfast with nuts, seeds and berries.

Fitzmaurice swapped butter for olive oil, had dinner two hours earlier (around 6pm) and did one-minute bursts of exercise throughout the day.

She also practised her grip strength through dead hangs at the local park and brushed her teeth on one leg to improve balance.

I can’t predict the future, but it’s true that making a few microtweaks to my weekly routine have had a surprisingly uplifting effect on my mood. As the world feels so utterly terrifying, taking control of the small things feels like therapy. ROSIE FITZMAURICE, HEALTH JOURNALIST FOR THE i paper

Is napping an invaluable part of the day or an unproductive hour?

To find out how to feel better, brighter and bushy-tailed, we asked Russell Foster, a professor of neuroscience at the University of Oxford, everything you need to know about napping.

How long should we nap for?

For Professor Foster, the ideal length of a time for a nap is just 20 minutes and certainly no longer than 30. “You don’t want to do is fall into deeper sleep, because then recovery from that can leave you groggy,” he says.

Is there an optimum time of day to nap?

Napping too late in the day is warned against.

An early-afternoon nap of around 20 minutes can improve your cognition during the second half of the day.

If you have a nap later on, you can push back your sleep pressure, which means the longer you’ve been awake the greater need for sleep, at night.

As long as you’re getting the sleep that you need to function optimally, that’s the main thing.

How much sleep does a person need?

Sleep is like a shoe: one size doesn’t fit all.

Oversleeping on days-off or sustaining your waking day with caffeine and other stimulants are signs of tiredness.Not everybody needs eight hours of sleep; it’s variable, dynamic and individual. And will vary over a lifetime depending on the season.

Other things to know

It doesn’t matter where you physically nap as long as it feels right and you’re comfortable. You can create the right environment by making it dark, calm or using a smell like lavender.

Generally speaking, napping is probably a metric that you’re not getting the sleep you need at night, says Professor Foster. “But don’t beat yourself up over it. A short nap, if it improves the second half of the day, is fine”.

What is causing damp? And how to fix it

In addition to being generally unpleasant, living in a damp property can lead to structural and health issues if left unaddressed for long periods of time. Read on to find out the industry expert advice on how to cut the risk of damp forming in your home…

Start with your windows

Don’t keep them closed.

Regularly opening windows – even on cold days – can improve the ventilation inside and decrease the humidity of the room. Also wipe away the condensation that has formed overnight with a microfiber cloth to remove the dampness.

I spent a day with a damp expert – and learned easy, cheap ways to keep my home dry

How to reduce the risk of damp

Dry clothes in the bathroom

Avoid drying clothes in bedrooms or living rooms without airflow.

Avoid curtains over radiators

It can trap heat behind the fabric, reduce room warmth and cause condensation on windows.

Large furniture items placed tightly against cold walls can trap condensation, leading to mould over time.

It could be the age of your home

Close to 90 per cent of UK homes with solid external walls lack insulation, making them vulnerable.

The airtight design of some new builds helps with energy efficiency but can trap moisture if ventilation isn’t properly managed, says Chad Bragg, chief technical officer at insulation company SuperFOIL.

How to reduce the risk of damp

Clothing that is packed too tightly in a wardrobe traps humidity, especially if it is slightly damp.

If the heating in your home is reduced in temperature by just two degrees, humidity levels will increase by 10 per cent.

Keep lids on pans

While cooking it avoids releasing moisture into the air. A good cooker hood is most effective.

Planning for an extension?

Pay attention to insulation

Poor insulation creates ‘thermal bridges,’ or cold spots, where the new structure joins the old house. These cold junctions act as magnets for condensation, causing localised mould, heat loss, and discomfort.

I inherited a damp flat with a £3,000 service charge – I can't sell it

How to fake your way to being organised

Do you have your life together? Is your home tidy and clutter-free; your diary neatly colour-coded; your to-do list full of satisfying ticks?If these questions feel like a personal attack don’t worry. We asked the put-together experts for their secrets.

Get to know your brain

The real magic is rarely in the system but in how your brain likes to work.

If you love analytical tasks, try making spreadsheets.

Set reminders for the things you usually forget.

Use the Notes app for the ideas you think of in the shower but never remember when you get to do it.

But if you are more likely to structure your day around how you’re feeling, a calendar isn’t the best option.

How to fake your way to organisation

If you hate folding, change your storage style. If you’re always forgetting your keys, put a sign by your door.

Make a launch pad

Keep a small tray or basket in the hallway for your can’t-leave-home-without essentials.

After meetings use an AI tool to note down what you have to remember as a brain dump.

The one-touch ruleIf you put your shoes straight on the rack as you take them off, instead of kicking them onto the floor and moving them later, that’s one touch. If you hang things up rather than tossing them onto the ‘bedroom chair’ it’s another one-touch win.

Talk to yourself out loudThis verbal anchor helps you remember what you have decided to do and cuts down on mental drift.

Give yourself five minutes to deal with one overdue chore or task.

Using seconds rather than minutes creates urgency and gives your brain a novelty hit.

Try it when putting the laundry away, making a phone call or reading an overdue email.

How to be an organised person

Make it easier for yourself

Drop a marble in a jar or move a sticky note across a board each time you complete a task.

Write down where you left off and the next small task to tackle to strengthen your control over every day demands.

Consider seeking support from loved ones, neighbours, colleagues, community groups or professionals.

Eight tips for combating loneliness

Ree Young, works for Mind mental health charity as a ‘befriender’ – this means working with people aged 50 and over in the city of Leeds – who may be struggling with social isolation or loneliness. Young advises these people on how to get social, even when you don’t want to. Here are her tips.

How to combat loneliness

Social isolation affects us all

of adults reported they felt lonely always, often or some of the time in data published by the Office for National Statistics in 2024.

reported that they felt lonely always or often.

How to combat loneliness

Check out what’s going on at your local community centre or learn something new to make connections.

Look up old friends online, or use video-call features to connect with those who don’t live nearby.

Why not learn how to crochet, write short stories, plant a herb garden or play the ukulele in a group?

They can provide companionship, a listening ear and a structured routine. They can be good listeners and stroking them can make us feel calmer and more at ease. Even the smallest pets, like fish, can bring us joy and a sense of purpose. REE YOUNG, BEFRIENDER

How to tackle loneliness

Join a death cafe

They are safe and inclusive spaces for people to be curious about death in a supportive environment.

It’s a great way to feel part of a community, while also contributing to worthwhile initiatives.

Try attending services if spiritual practices are important to you. They can offer strong support networks and open doors to new people.

If you are unsure what support is available, speak to your GP. Research local charities and find out what services they have to offer, and try accessing local befriending, group or peer-support services.There is nothing shameful about asking for help.

The six reasons your partner might cheat

Cheating is still the number one cause of divorce, and one in five Brits admit to doing it. But what are the main drivers of infidelity?

Why your partner might cheat

They want a way out

Sex and relationship therapist Cate Campbell says exit affairs are one of the three “big reasons” she sees.

This often happens when a person doesn’t feel good about themselves, or have a fear of being found out.

Transitions like moving house, new jobs or becoming parents makes cheating more common.

Why your partner might cheat

They’re getting too close to a colleagueThis dynamic is usually an unhappy man who confides in a woman in a work context, and it switches from a supportive friendship into an affair.

They want something new in bedDesires change – consiously or not and people may believe they want something different, or to experiment.

Nobody stays the same in a relationship – and if we’re not communicating that to each other, it can be disconnecting.

Susie Masterson, a relationship therapist, says when people feel undervalued, or stretched too thin in day-to-day life, they can look at their relationship and realise it isn’t filling the gaps.

How to recover from an affair

Infidelity doesn’t have to be the end of a relationship

Psychotherapist Esther Perel says in her book The State of Affairs that affairs can actually save a relationship, by forcing us to address deep-rooted issues and come back stronger.

Campbell says couples should be having conversations about infidelity and what it means to them.

“Often it’s not the affair that ends the relationship, but the fallout – and the way it’s managed. Which is why it’s useful to get some therapy if you can,” she adds.

By Thursday morning, uncertainty over the size of Streeting’s would-be leadership army fuelled the sense in Westminster that the health secretary’s bid, after days of briefings from his allies that he was ready to go over the top, was melting away.

Chancellor pleads not to ‘plunge the country into chaos’

Just after 7am on Thursday morning, Rachel Reeves – who is sticking by the Prime Minister – made her first intervention on Starmer’s leadership crisis.

In extraordinary scenes live on BBC Breakfast, in the street outside No 10, the Chancellor warned Labour MPs they had an “important decision to make today” not to “plunge the country into chaos” when the economy was showing signs of improvement with 0.6 per cent growth, even in the shadow of the Iran conflict.

Reeves’s comments drew comparisons with the late Queen Elizabeth II’s subtle but pointed intervention on the eve of the Scottish referendum in 2014, when she warned voters should “think very carefully about the future”.

If there were any Labour MPs who were already wavering about whether or not to back Streeting, the Chancellor’s decision to highlight unexpectedly optimistic economic news may have focused their minds.

Just after 9.30am, NHS England published more good news for the Government: figures showing the 18-week target for waits had been met and that the overall waiting list fell by 110,000 in March, the biggest monthly drop outside of Covid since 2008 and despite strikes by doctors.

Streeting responded to the news, saying the Government’s plan for the NHS was working and adding the phrase that he has used twice in the past week – which could become the working title of his leadership campaign: “Lots done, lots more to do.”

Streeting’s brutal assessment of Starmer

Throughout the morning, allies of the PM – who had been briefing earlier in the week that Streeting was “bottling it” – continued to claim that the Ilford North MP “doesn’t have the numbers”.

As the hours ticked by, Westminster was awash with rumours that the challenge was off and that, perhaps, he was not going to resign after all – despite his allies insisting earlier in the week that he would.

One Labour staffer was savage about the apparent delay from Streeting, telling The i Paper: “He [Wes] is f**ked and he is clearly trying to force the PM to resign so he doesn’t have to.

“Wes is finished. No one in Cabinet will have anything to do with him after this. If he had any self-awareness he’d resign at the end of all this, but given his behaviour thus far, there’s scant evidence that he has.”

Yet, finally, at 12.58pm, Streeting’s X account tweeted his resignation letter. It was brutal in its assessment of Starmer – whom he had told in their brief meeting on Wednesday morning that he no longer had confidence in his ability to lead the party into the next election.

Streeting told the PM in his letter: “Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift.”

Insiders say there was no wavering or dithering by Streeting and that he was always going to wait until after the King’s Speech, to avoid any distractions or overshadowing the monarch’s set piece constitutional moment, and after he had responded to the good news of falling NHS waiting lists.

Streeting resorts to plan B

Yet despite its devastating critique of the Prime Minister, the Streeting letter stopped short of fully challenging the PM to a contest, which only continued to fuel speculation he does not actually have 81 MPs on his side.

On Wednesday, allies of Streeting had briefed The Times claiming that he was poised to both resign and challenge the Prime Minister – suggesting he has since resorted to a plan B.

It is possible, and his allies do not dispute this, that some of the names on his spreadsheet include ministers who are still serving in Starmer’s Government, and who do not want to resign yet – but would back Streeting if he declared he was standing.

Despite being a close political ally and personal friend of Streeting, Peter Kyle is not following him out the door of Cabinet, The i Paper understands. Allies of the Business Secretary said he was not planning to resign.

Under Labour rules, the ex-minister can declare he is challenging the Prime Minister without securing the 81 names, and then wait to see if MPs come forward to back him. At that point, once 81 names are submitted, the ballot is triggered.

Streeting’s supporters insist he does already have the numbers but wants to have an open contest with as many people on the pitch – including Andy Burnham – so he can have a proper mandate to govern as PM.

Someone close to Streeting said the penultimate paragraph of his 998-word letter – in which he talked about the contest needing to be broad and have the “best possible field of candidates” – made clear why he did not want to challenge yet.

Any leader elected without allowing the best candidates to stand would lack legitimacy, they said, adding: “Wes doesn’t believe in stitch-ups.”

A separate source close to Streeting added in the wake of his decision to quit as health secretary: “He has been so frustrated about the lack of debate within Cabinet. He will now be in a position to lead the debate about what a proper Labour government, with proper Labour values, can do.”

And a third ally said Streeting is demanding the Prime Minister find a way to allow Burnham back into Parliament to allow a leadership contest to take place with “all the players on the pitch”.

“It’s principled,” one ally said.

‘Ball now in Starmer’s court’ as MP makes way for Burnham

“And the ball is now in Keir Starmer’s court to find a way back for Andy in short order.”

But there is nevertheless scepticism within the party about whether Streeting’s claim to want a full contest, that includes the incredibly popular Greater Manchester Mayor, is just a ruse because he calculates that Burnham would be blocked anyway by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) if he tried to get a seat.

A Labour insider said: “That is potentially what is happening, but I am choosing to take his words at face value – I think he has accepted he doesn’t have enough support and that an election without Andy having had the opportunity is a short-term win, long-term loss.”

Just after 5pm, it appeared that Burnham’s return to Westminster politics had moved a step closer – even though he still has many hurdles to overcome.

Josh Simons, the Labour MP for Makerfield, announced he was stepping down specifically in order to let Burnham stand for Parliament.

But Simons secured only a 5,399 majority in 2024, and with Reform UK – which won all the council seats in the area in last week’s elections – in second place, it is not certain that Burnham would win.

He also needs to have the green light from Labour’s NEC – who blocked him from a similar return earlier this year – to be able to stand as a candidate, and then would need to be selected as the party’s candidate.

And one party source suggested the chaos was reflecting badly on Labour and the Government, comparing it to an episode of Succession, the TV series about siblings warring over their father’s global media business, entitled “Shit Show at the F**k Factory.”

Streeting stokes Labour anger

A Labour staffer was more pointed: “He quite simply didn’t have the numbers and he knew it. I was told he had about 30 backbenchers and 50 ministers and that simply doesn’t take you to where you need to be. People aren’t going to resign for him.

“He can now be a gobby backbencher or maybe if he behaves himself, he can get back into Cabinet. That is the most he can hope for.”

A Cabinet source said: “The rest of the Cabinet were really cross about this and thought it had gone too far. He had marched too many people up the hill, to sacrifice themselves, for this not to be the final outcome.

“He spent most of last night trying to persuade Cabinet ministers to join him to force the PM into resigning but none would join him.”

But Streeting’s camp refuted the claim that he was calling Cabinet ministers as “totally false”, adding that most of the Cabinet had already told the Prime Minister he should go.

A left-wing Labour MP said: “He never stood a chance. We would’ve made his life a misery and the party ungovernable.”

A Labour insider said it would not be enough for Streeting to secure the backing of 81 Labour MPs, but that he would need the support of more than double that figure to show the party that he could govern well, without the risk of resentment from the back benches.

This de facto mandate was all the more important because Labour was in office, they said.

The insider said: “Eighty-one MPs is the absolute floor of even getting on to the playing field. But in a party where his side of things is in the minority in Parliament and even more so in the country, he needs to have momentum, not just the bare minimum.

“How quickly can he get to 150, 175? That’s what he would need to show the party [that] there is a growing consensus behind him.

“I appreciate the focus is on whether a contest happens, but we’re talking about the prime minister of the country, not just the leadership of the party.

Source: https://inews.co.uk/news/stshow-fk-factory-streetings-plan-b-stalled-coup-4417303

'S**tshow at the f**k factory': Inside Streeting's plan B - and the stalled coup

'Stshow at the fk factory': Inside Streeting's plan B - and the stalled coup