Streeting, as Health Secretary, spoke for the UK Government in rejecting John Swinney's request for a Section 30 order commitment, saying a second referendum is not a government priority.Source: Lowdown

Who is Wes Streeting?

Wes Streeting is the UK's Health Secretary and Labour MP for Ilford North. He has held the health brief since Labour won the 2024 general election.

What is the UK Government's position on a second Scottish independence referendum?

The UK Government, as stated by Wes Streeting in April 2026, holds that now is not the time for a second referendum. A Section 30 order granting Holyrood the power to legislate for one has been refused.Source: Lowdown

Background

Wes Streeting is the UK's Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Labour MP for Ilford North. During the 2026 Scottish election campaign, he rejected SNP First Minister John Swinney's public request for Westminster to commit to granting a Section 30 order after 2028, saying the government's position remained that now is not the time.

Streeting, Born in Stepney, London, in 1983, was educated at Westminster City School and read history at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He served as President of the National Union of Students (2008-2010) and on Redbridge Council before being elected MP for Ilford North in 2015. He was shadow Health Secretary from 2021 to 2024 before Labour's general election victory. He nearly lost his seat in 2024, winning by only 528 votes against an independent British-Palestinian candidate. As Secretary of State, he published a ten-year NHS plan centred on shifting care from hospitals to community settings.

Streeting's Scotland Section 30 rebuff strengthens the SNP's argument that a Holyrood majority is required to force Westminster's hand on a referendum, a dynamic that has shaped the SNP's 2026 manifesto framing.

Streeting resigned as Health Secretary on 14 May 2026, the first Cabinet-level departure of a week that saw six ministerial resignations in total. His letter stated: "Where we need vision, we have a vacuum. Where we need direction, we have drift," and declared it was "now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election."

He is reportedly within reach of the 81-nomination threshold (20 per cent of the PLP) required to trigger a formal Labour leadership contest under the Collins-era rules, but had not filed them with the General Secretary by Thursday evening. The Telegraph reported he was among six Cabinet ministers who privately urged Starmer to oversee a managed transition before the resignation. Survation polling for LabourList shows him losing a head-to-head with Starmer among Labour members, in contrast to Andy Burnham's 61-39 lead. The contest's outcome will depend partly on whether the NEC grants Burnham a Makerfield by-election candidacy.

Streeting endorsed Andy Burnham rather than entering the Labour leadership contest himself, part of a bloc with Douglas Alexander, Darren Jones and David Lammy that Left Burnham the only serious contender as the NEC's nomination window ran from 9 to 15 July 2026.