Wes Streeting named first Labour health secretary for 14 years

Wes Streeting has been appointed health secretary under the new Labour Government, following the party’s landslide win in the general election yesterday.

The MP for Ilford North only very narrowly held on to his parliamentary seat, with an independent candidate standing on a pro-Gaza platform just 500 votes behind.

He was named shadow secretary of state for health and social care in 2021, taking over from Jonathan Ashworth, who lost his seat yesterday to another pro-Palestine independent.

Before this, Mr Streeting served as shadow secretary for child poverty and as shadow minister for schools.

He takes over leadership of the Department of Health and Social Care from Conservative MP Victoria Atkins, who had served since November 2023 following a string of new health secretaries over the last three years.

Andy Burnham, who now serves as Mayor of Greater Manchester, was the last Labour politician to hold this Cabinet position, from 2009 to 2010.

Mr Streeting has recently promised that general practice ‘has a lot to look forward to’ under a Labour Government, but has revealed few concrete policies for primary care.

Labour’s election manifesto pledged to ‘reform’ primary care, trialling ‘neighbourhood health centres’ which would have GPs and other community health staff ‘under one roof’.

The manifesto carried no immediate promises of increased investment in general practice but said the party will ‘return the family doctor’, and will shift more money to primary care over time.

The new health secretary has also pledged to review the additional roles reimbursement scheme (ARRS) and cut GP bureaucracy under a Labour Government.

Many doctor leaders have called for GPs to be included in the ARRS, as currently it gives a ‘perverse incentive’ for PCNs to hire less-qualified healthcare professionals instead of GPs.