Wes Streeting: the UK’s next prime minister? – podcast

Keir Starmer was on the brink of a leadership contest this week, but he pulled it back. That does not mean his rivals have gone away, with one of the most hotly tipped leadership candidates the health secretary, Wes Streeting.Earlier this week, Labour’s leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar, held an astonishing press conference calling for Starmer to resign. Meanwhile, in Westminster, Streeting was preparing to publish all his messages with Peter Mandelson to get ahead of swirling rumours about his friendship with the disgraced former ambassador to the US. But this kicked off speculation that Streeting had co-ordinated with Sarwar’s team to put pressure on Starmer. While Streeting has denied this, the whole affair has put the health secretary back in the spotlight for his potential leadership plans.So who is Wes Streeting and how has he risen to prominence in the Labour Party? Nosheen Iqbal profiles the health secretary with the Guardian’s policy editor, Kiran Stacey Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA