Don’t unravel my NHS reforms, says Streeting

Wes Streeting is expected to throw his weight behind electoral reform as he looks to take the fight to Andy Burnham for the Labour leadership.

The former health secretary has yet to set out his position on overhauling the voting system in the UK, but The i Paper understands he is supportive of changing the first-past-the-post system. 

It comes after Burnham signalled that he would support placing a commitment to introduce proportional representation into a future Labour election manifesto.

Streeting has emerged as the main challenger to frontrunner Burnham in any Labour leadership contest and his own backing for electoral reform is likely to dramatically increase the chances of the policy being delivered in the future.

Sources close to Streeting said he has yet to set out his position on voting reform, but highlighted his previous stance on the issue, including his decision to defy the Labour whip to vote in favour of the change back in 2016.

At the time, he was one of 15 Labour MPs to go against Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and vote in favour of a backbench bill put forward by the then Green MP Caroline Lucas to introduce proportional representation.

Labour support for the introduction of proportional representation is also viewed by the Green Party as a prerequisite for any pact or deal between the two parties, and it has long been called for by the Liberal Democrats.  

In an interview with The Observer, Burnham said he was “committed to proportional representation”, adding: “I think it would change the political culture. I don’t see how first past the post and the point-scoring inherent within it lifts Britain out of the doom loop it is in.”

Those close to the Greater Manchester Mayor have suggested that he would launch a national commission on electoral reform to look at the best voting system for the country, should he succeed Starmer as Prime Minister. 

Any pledge to change the voting system would then be included in the party’s manifesto ahead of the next election.

A previous attempt to change voting in the UK was rejected by the public in a referendum held in 2011, as a condition for the Lib Dems to enter a coalition with the Conservatives.

According to a poll by YouGov in December last year, adults in the UK are more likely to support proportional representation than the current first-past-the-post system, with 45 per cent in favour of PR and 25 per cent happy with the status quo.

Among Labour voters, the support is even higher with 56 per cent in favour of a change, compared with 24 per cent backing first past the post.

It comes as Streeting is poised to throw down the gauntlet on Monday, warning Sir Keir Starmer not to abandon the NHS reforms he put in place before resigning, as he seeks to pile more pressure on the Prime Minister.

Streeting is now expected to deliver a speech in the Commons during the second reading of the NHS Modernisation Bill in a bid to guard against any attempt to unravel his legacy heading up the Department for Health and Social Care.

It comes after both the Prime Minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves have separately pointed to the increase in spending as being behind the fall in NHS waiting lists. 

But Streeting will argue that it is only because investment has come with modernisation that the rapid falls in NHS waiting times have occurred. 

“Those who claim recent improvements in NHS performance are simply the result of more money are making exactly the same mistake that has held the NHS back for years,” Streeting is expected to say.