LABOUR stands poised on the edge of a leadership election as Blairite Wes Streeting gears up to challenge Sir Keir Starmer.

The Health Secretary is expected to announce tomorrow that he is quitting the Cabinet to fight the Prime Minister for the top job.

His move comes after a week of scheming and speculation in a febrile Parliamentary Labour Party staring down the barrel of political annihilation in the wake of the local, Scottish and Welsh election results.

It is understood that Sir Keir will not quit without a fight. More than 100 Labour MPs have signed a letter pledging support, while roughly as many have publicly called on him to resign.

If this right-on-right struggle for the future of Labour kicks off, the left will be forced to engage, although most would rather defer a contest until popular Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham can be a candidate.

However, no-one knows when or if that moment will occur, since there are several obstacles in the way of his return to the Commons.

In his absence the party’s “soft left” will likely back either Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, should he reverse under pressure his repeated declarations of no interest in another turn as leader, or former deputy premier Angela Rayner.

Ms Rayner is still dogged by the unresolved tax issue which forced her resignation from government last year, and by the legacy of her five years of support for Sir Keir’s disastrous leadership.

Her allies claim, however, that she would easily beat Mr Streeting among Labour members in a straight fight and would have the best chance, absent Mr Burnham, even if Sir Keir remains in the fray.

Another frenzied day at Westminster began with a brutally brief meeting between Sir Keir and Mr Streeting at Downing Street, with the Health Secretary being shown out after 17 minutes.

Mr Streeting’s associates immediately began briefing that he was “going for it” and would announce his plans after today’s King’s Speech was out of the way.

No 10 however claimed that Mr Streeting lacked the backing of the necessary 81 MPs to mount a challenge.

What is indisputable is the total collapse in support for Sir Keir’s continuation in office, with divisions solely over the timing of his departure and the identity of his successor. 

Indeed, should the premier be challenged from both the Blairite and left wings of the party he may find his support evaporating to the point where he has to throw in the towel.

Affiliated trade unions have joined the clamour for his exit, agreeing at a meeting on Tuesday night that “Labour cannot continue on its current path.

“Labour is not doing enough to deliver the change that working people voted for at the general election. 

“It’s clear that the Prime Minister will not lead Labour into the next election, and at some stage a plan will have to be put in place for the election of a new leader. 

“We are working closely as unions to shape a shared vision on policy, political strategy and economic policy that will reorient Labour back to working people, so Labour do what it was elected to do: govern in the interests of workers,” the unions said in a statement.

Left MPs continued to denounce Mr Streeting’s plotting, which has been driven by a desire to seize the leadership before Mr Burnham is in a position to contest.

Jon Trickett said: “He clearly fears that he couldn’t win the leadership in a fair contest.

“And so he is trying to bounce the party into a quick decision, before all the best candidates are prepared to make their own bid.”

Sir Keir’s remaining allies claimed that efforts to remove him would upset the international money markets, prompting Diane Abbott to drily remark that “if the British government is going to be completely dominated by the bond market, MPs might as well go home.”

The Prime Minister’s last-ditch King’s Speech did nothing to revive his fortunes either, with announcements that were recycled, reactionary, or both — like limiting jury trials and anti-migrant measures.

Unison general secretary Andrea Egan said: “These measures confirm the government simply doesn’t understand the magnitude of the transformation needed across the UK.

“There’s nothing to address the chronic underfunding of public services, low pay or the vast wealth-inequality gap,” she said.

A group of union leaders and left MPs, led by 2024 intake Neil Duncan-Jordan and Chris Hinchcliffe, also launched a Socialism 26 initiative today calling for a new policy agenda.

Its key demands included recognition of the Gaza genocide with sanctions against Israel, the full New Deal for working people and unions, compensation for Waspi women, cutting energy bills and abandoning the government’s plans on juries and migrants.

And the SNP will try to force an early Commons vote on Sir Keir’s future with new Westminster leader Dave Doogan saying the “leadership circus can’t go on any longer.” It is most unlikely to succeed.