BREAKING: Wes Streeting LEAVES Number 10 after only 16 MINUTE ‘showdown’ with Keir Starmer

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]He is indeed Alex. That summit now taking place behind number 10's famous black door between the health secretary West Streeting and the prime minister Sakir Stalmer. Now some people had been muting it in the papers this morning.

[00:00:13]Some commentators muting it as peace talks a truce between the two men. Now based on the walk the west we're treating very short walk about 10 seconds but based on the body language that that we viewed there this was a confident health secretary a confident streeting that is perhaps going through that door to confront the prime minister perhaps saying something that the prime minister doesn't want to hear. It's also worth reflecting Alex that the prime minister's right-hand man Darren Jones has also arrived in a ministerial car.

[00:00:47]He did not choose to take that walk through the front uh into 10 Downing Street. Instead, he chose to to go in through a side door. But we could perhaps read into that that the prime minister's right-hand man is here to support the prime minister. Perhaps he's even in the room with West Streeting and the prime minister as we speak. But that summit now taking place between West Streeting and Shakir Stalmer. We hear that Wes Streeting is going to be addressing the turbulence that we've seen within the party in recent days and he will be asking that key question of what are you going to do to get us out of this mess. Some allies of West Streeting have briefed the press this morning saying that he is going to resign as health secretary potentially not today. He won't want to overshadow the king's speech but he may do so later on this week. I suppose that all depends on the conversation that is taking place behind that black door behind me right now. And the press is congregating just next to me here, waiting with baited breath to get a picture of where streeting as he leaves that that famous door and heads back to his ministerial car. And again, we'll all be reading that body language. We'll be looking at his facial expressions to try and and deem quite how that conversation went and what could happen next.

[00:02:16]and Ellie, what do we expect? What time do we expect to see uh the health secretary? I'm assuming this meeting won't go on forever. And of course, we have got that king speech coming up in the next couple of hours time. Will you be trying to ask the health secretary a question on the way out? And what are you going to ask him if you do get a chance, Ellie?

[00:02:35]Well, the health secretary went into 10 Downing Street at 8:24 precisely this morning. So, you'd imagine if our expectation is correct, if West Streeting was going in there confident, defiant, ready to confront the prime minister, you'd imagine that wouldn't be a particularly long conversation. It was just after half 8 where Darren Jones entered through the side door. So, they've been in there together, all three of them, for 10 minutes. We could expect uh West Streeting to appear here leaving Downing Street any moment now.

[00:03:08]We will of course bring that to you here on GB News Breakfast. The press is is here uh ready for that moment when he does leave. We'll bring that to you as well. But the king's speech taking place, can you believe it, Alex? The timing of all of this, the king's speech taking place at 11:30 this morning. So just a few hours time before the king is about to set out the government's agenda for the next year.

[00:03:31]here. And at this point, it's hard to believe. Oh, where street is now leaving 10 Downing Street.

[00:03:37]>> There he is.

[00:03:41]>> Are you going to resign, Mr. Street?

[00:03:48]>> There he is, the health secretary, defiantly and confidently, I think we can say, Tom, walking to his car. It is worth reflecting that that is a choice by West Streeting. There are side entrances. There are back entrances to 10 Downing Street. Again, he chose to leave via the front door to walk that uh pavement to his ministerial car. A short meeting, Tom. Let's bring in Tom Harwood, our our deputy political editor. A short meeting. He was in at 8:24. And let me look at the time now.

[00:04:15]8:42.

[00:04:16]>> I mean, much shorter than I think anyone was expecting.

[00:04:20]>> 20 minutes.

[00:04:20]>> Perhaps it was a very curt conversation.

[00:04:23]Perhaps this was a frank exchange of views between these two men. But also, as I have been saying throughout this morning, today is about the king's speech. Whatever was said in there, I'm not sure we're going to find out about it for many, many hours to come. There is this sort of sense of truth for the king for the state opening. What might then be unleashed after that? My goodness me, it feels like something is building. You've got pent up energy here and those floodgates will at some point have to be released. But for as long as the state opening is going to take place, those floodgates are in place. It does feel like however that was a man walking there who did not have to do the long walk, who did not have to sort of stride and take those shouts from the media.

[00:05:12]>> And he acknowledged the press as well, Tom, didn't he? He was looking over us the entire time. both times walking up and walking back a a sort of knowing look to the press a rice smile as he went in and as he left a just a face of confidence something went on inside that building and I don't think it was a peace talk >> when do you think then if the allies are to be believed that are briefing the press this morning that west streeting is going to resign as health secretary and is going to launch a leadership campaign when do you think he could go over the top if that's what he chooses to If that's what he chooses to do, my guess would be tomorrow morning would be the point to do it. That's when we're expecting new data to come out about waiting lists, about his day job as health secretary. That could be a moment where he says, "Look what I've achieved in my role." But clearly the prime minister has not achieved a lot in his role. The party is unhappy with him. Uh almost 100 Labor MPs have said that the prime minister must go. There have been 10 resignations so far from uh the government. I would expect we might see more resignations before it. Were we to see a West Street resignation, we would see perhaps more uh ministerial resignations before then.

[00:06:30]>> Could that happen today?

[00:06:31]>> I think that because of the king's speech, this is a very very difficult time. No one wants to be seen to uh overshadow the king, to embarrass the king. It would be seen to be improper.

[00:06:42]Certainly until the king had left parliament, but maybe even just for today as a whole, we might see some things in the papers that are going into tomorrow. So perhaps at 10:00 at night, but I but I I somehow think that everything feels like there might be movement tomorrow rather than today.

[00:07:00]That being said, how long can a conversation like that hold? How h how can we guarantee there will be no leaks?

[00:07:08]How many people were in that room? Was Darren Jones in that room? Was it just Wes Streeting and the prime minister?

[00:07:13]Were there any aids of the prime minister in the room? Might something that was said in there actually unintentionally make its way out there into the public domain today? That's entirely possible.

[00:07:25]>> What should we read into the fact that Darren Jones also made his way into 10 Downing Street just after West Streeting arrived, deciding to go through a side entrance rather than through the front door. Would that suggest to you that he was there as backup for the prime minister? He is, of course, the prime minister's right-hand man. Um that is uh not a coincidence that timing the fact that he arrived within minutes of where streeting arriving uh and the fact that Darren Jones has been one of those figures who was in Downing Street all yesterday uh shoring up support for the prime minister using this sort of uh um rear guard action operation that we know has been taking place within Downing Street. I would uh I would not think that it's a particular coincidence that we saw Darren Jones arriving within minutes of the health secretary, the chief secretary to the prime minister there potentially as backup for the prime minister in what was no doubt a very frank and difficult conversation.

[00:08:19]>> It looked as though it was a frank and difficult conversation. Thank you very much, Tom,