“I have every intention of standing in that contest,” he added. “I’ve not triggered a contest because we’ve got a by-election underway where one of the inevitable candidates is on the ballot paper. Had I tried to pull a fast one and get ahead of Andy Burnham before he came back, I think that would have been foul play.”
Streeting, who described himself as the “plucky underdog,” told journalists: “For the avoidance of doubt, for the umpteenth time, I will be standing.”
Streeting ruled out holding a general election earlier than the expected date of 2029 if he becomes PM. “We don’t live in a presidential system, we live in a parliamentary democracy. I was elected on that manifesto. I will deliver on that manifesto, and I’ll seek to go above and beyond that manifesto,” he said.
The comments came as Streeting set out what he called a vision of “progressive capitalism,” saying the left should not be “squeamish about competition.” He promised to recruit 20,000 scientists, engineers and AI experts from overseas over the next parliament and pass emergency legislation to speed up the building of key infrastructure.
The MP — who is from the party’s centrist wing, inspired by Labour’s most successful former prime minister, Tony Blair — took swipes at Burnham’s more left-wing politics, saying “I don’t believe we’ve sat through 40 years of neoliberal failure” and “bond markets are not bond villains.” (Burnham said last year that Britain is “in hock” to the bond markets.)
Streeting added the leadership contest should not become a “Dutch auction” of ever more expensive pledges, with a swipe at the pledges of Starmer’s own 2020 campaign: “You won’t find me making pledges to win your vote in a leadership election only to let you down after the ballots are counted.”
