On manoeuvres? Why some in No 10 think Wes Streeting is plotting to be PM

A clip from a 2018 comedy show has been circulating in Westminster - and it neatly explains why the spotlight landed on Wes Streeting when No 10 launched preemptive strikes against potential leadership candidates.

- Jessica Elgot

It features a number of fresh-faced politicians, who are asked who will be prime minister in 10 years. Several Labour MPs dutifully say the then-leader Jeremy Corbyn. Tim Loughton, a former Tory MP, predicts Kemi Badenoch. The final clip is Wes Streeting, who smiles and says: "I think it will probably be me."

Streeting has been talked about as a future prime minister since he was leader of the National Union of Students. So in theory, it's no surprise that the health secretary was the name who was first connected to briefings from No 10 about how fiercely Keir Starmer would fight a leadership battle.

Why did some allies of the prime minister convince themselves that an outwardly loyal cabinet minister was plotting a coup? Streeting and MPs who would be considered his close allies say there is no such plot.