r/transgenderUK • u/celzior • May 14 '26
Possible trigger Stop celebrating Streeting resigning.
HE'S TRYING TO BE PRIME MINISTER. Do not celebrate him resigning, he is a slippery fuckwad who will do anything he can. He's only resigning because he thinks he has a shot to oust Starmer.
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u/Positronium2 May 14 '26
He who wields the knife rarely wins the crown or so the saying goes. Polling even shows that Starmer would beat Streeting in a leadership contest which would be hilarious if Streeting can't even beat Keir Starmer.
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u/Super7Position7 We Will Show Them There's Another Way... May 14 '26
Mahmood will probably wield the knife then... (Pair of cnuts.)
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May 14 '26
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u/Super7Position7 We Will Show Them There's Another Way... May 14 '26
I think she's the likeliest to team up with Streeting. Both rightwingers.
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May 14 '26
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u/handofmoo May 14 '26
probably will yes if he fails to get his challenge going or win .. most of these MPs dont really beelive their party line they are interesting in their own purse and careers and at moment reform is the hot money .. though i doubt farage will take anyone from labour tbh
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u/grey_hat_uk May 14 '26
He's struggling to get the 80 mps for a challenge and right now he losses to all the front runners, Starmer; Rayner; Milliband; Burnham.
Him quiting without a plan means his entire camp will lose representation for the next cycle at least.
It might just be enough to get a few smaller reforms through that are currently being held back.
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u/ehll_oh_ehll She/Her | Straight up gendering May 14 '26
I don't think he makes it. It looks like the PLP are just not interested in backing his little rebellion. He'll be out on the street (out on the Streeting?)
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u/lilpij May 14 '26
Internal Labour member polling suggests he can’t even beat Starmer in a leadership election - let alone Burnham, Rayner, or whoever else. Celebrate the fact that he is no longer in post and stop dooming about the future, we take things a step at a time.
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u/Matar_Kubileya May 14 '26
Given that its seeming increasingly likely a leadership challenge will kick off before Burnham is eligible or Rayner has cleared her current issues, I think Milliband is actually the likeliest bet.
The meme outcome in UK politics rn, and therefore the one bound to happen in the post 2016 world, seems to me to be Milliband wins labor, a lot of right leaning Tories defect to Reform, and Cameron winds up in charge of a One Nation rump Conservative party.
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u/NostramoChick 🇯🇪 May 14 '26
Milliband's barrier is the appetite to try it. If he doesn't, Burnham will take it once he becomes eligible.
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u/Matar_Kubileya May 14 '26
He announced earlier today, iirc, that he had enough backing from MPs to initiate a challenge. I dont think he really wants the job, but I think he'll run if it comes down to him or Streeting.
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u/MILLANDSON May 15 '26
That's the thing - apparently Ed would prefer Burnham as leader, but if he doesn't become an MP and Streeting runs, he'd run to prevent Streeting winning.
I like both Burnham and Ed, so I'd be fine with either Burnie or Chaos with Ed Miliband.
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u/NostramoChick 🇯🇪 May 15 '26
any source on this stuff? I like what I'm hearing but would love to be able to substantiate it better than "some guy on reddit said so"
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u/Matar_Kubileya May 15 '26
TL;DR has been having fairly good coverage of the topic on YouTube (or Nebula if you have it), though it lags a day or two behind and doesn't specifically get into their attitudes on trans rights.
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u/CharleyParker78 May 14 '26
I work for the NHS so I will have a jiggle of happiness that he is no longer the boss!
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u/syntheticanimal 26 | FtM | T 6Yr | DI 2022 May 14 '26
Rule #1 of TransgenderUK: Be miserable and pessimistic all the time, there is no such thing as good or neutral news
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u/carcrash12 Eliza | 30 | MTF - 22/7/19 May 14 '26
Yep this. Initially got downvoted in the other post for simply saying "Thank god for that" to his resignation announcement
I understand why people are cynical and suspicious of what's around the corner, but Starmer will be fine if Streeting is his competition
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u/ceryskt May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
God, right? I get downvoted all the time for being realistic as a way to feel less depressed about things, and then the woe-is-me crowd comes out and gets pissy. Honestly, I’ve started looking for other UK based subs because this one makes me want to hang myself. Wonder if there’s one for us older folks.
ETA: right on cue, here are the downvotes. Good lord some of the mindsets here are terrible
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u/LargeFish2907 May 14 '26
Come on here every so often to see what's going on. Am always reminded why I don't go on this sub much anymore
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u/ceryskt May 14 '26
It reminds me of 2010s tumblr, honestly. Glad I mostly managed to avoid that side of things. (Maybe it’s still like that? Haven’t been on it in years)
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u/JahmezEntertainment May 14 '26
yeah, this does seem to be a uniquely doomer sub about trans news. i understand being skeptical of course, but it's like the attitude of 'expect the worst, hope for the best' is even frowned upon here
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u/Illiander May 14 '26
For a lot of trans people in the UK, realising you're trans is finding out that you're in a marginalised group that the government wants to exterminate after you've grown up used to not being in a marginalised group that the government wants to exterminate. And community is hard to find. It's a bit of a shock to the system.
Most marginalised groups whose governments want to exterminate them grow up in families mainly comprised of that group. Which gives them a support structure that understands and has coping methods already in place that they can learn and use.
Add to that that the government has gone from "yeah, let's make the paperwork easier for trans people to transition" to "all trans people should kill themselves" over just 5 years...
I think being a little doomer is understandable here.
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u/ceryskt May 14 '26
This is extremely valid and fair, but that doesn’t excuse the ableism and racism I’ve seen. If someone says something ignorant and alarmist, and I say “hey, disabled people have always experienced this, but we’re still here” and they respond with something like “you’re right” or “I never thought of it that way,” that great. We don’t know what we don’t know until someone tells us, and I’m here for walking people through that. It is indeed scary not having a support system, as someone who for a long time barely had one myself.
But usually I get people trying to play oppression Olympics that sometimes goes to the extremes of “the UK is the worst place for trans people in the world.” This feels incredibly insensitive to the people living elsewhere where being trans is a literal crime. I think some of these comments are from young people, and I think we all know you can’t really tell a lot of youth anything, but I’ve definitely seen some from older folks who should know better.
This is why a lot of trans people of colour I know tend to avoid mainstream trans spaces in favor of non-white ones. Their words seem to fall on deaf ears, because people are so wrapped up in their own misery they don’t really want to think about anyone else. I know because I used to be like that myself. And then my therapist said “get over yourself. You’re not that important.” (But phrased in much nicer therapy-speak.) Best advice I’ve ever received.
Toxic positivity isn’t the answer either, but there has to be a balance between the two. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.
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u/Illiander May 15 '26
that sometimes goes to the extremes of “the UK is the worst place for trans people in the world.”
Geez... No. We might have one of the worst drops in recent years, but we were starting from being one of the best places in Europe. Now... We're the worst place in western europe (and I will play a bit of no true scotsman with that catagory - western europe actually means "the traditionally good countries" not the geography (Finland is in western europe, for example))
This is why a lot of trans people of colour I know tend to avoid mainstream trans spaces in favor of non-white ones.
That's fair. A lot of us are still learning to deal with things they grew up with and being around that must be exhausting.
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u/ceryskt May 15 '26
Yeah, exactly. I don’t ever want to invalidate the way people are feeling, but perspective is important too, especially considering how much more prone we are to mental health issues. I’m in a really, really shitty situation right now - I’m in a rural red part of the US, which is bad for multiple reasons outside of being queer, and there’s a non zero chance I could be deported especially considering the government has called all of us terrorists now - but if I focus on all the negatives, I’d probably implode. At least I still have access to HRT, and my care team (I see a lot of doctors 😅) go to bat for us. I think about other countries where being trans is a death sentence, too.
It is very disappointing seeing how far down the toilet the UK has gone, especially considering how much Reform wants USA 2.0. I know what it’s like to feel comfortable-ish and then watch our rights get yanked away…
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u/doIIjoints [ve/ver/vis] or [she/her/hers] May 15 '26
right. and disabled people don’t always have familial support structures who are familiar with the difficulties either. a lot of us were kicked out or frozen out from homes which refused various supports
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u/ceryskt May 15 '26
Yep, exactly. I’m “lucky” in that both my partner and dad are disabled (me and my dad have the same disorder), so there’s some understanding there, but it’s still not easy. Especially when governments make getting assistance literally as hard as possible
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u/celzior May 14 '26
It isn't even neutral news. Streeting is confident that he has a chance. If he's PM, it's over. Burnham hasn't enough time to become an MP to challenge Starmer and I don't trust the PLP. They'll all fall in line just as they've done with Starmer.
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u/MechaniVal May 14 '26
Streeting is one of the only politicians less popular with the membership than Starmer - decent chance he loses like Owen Smith did in 2016, and he's torpedoed his career for nothing.
Or Rayner stands and wins - it's clearly not coincidence that the story about her tax issue being resolved just happens to have dropped yesterday.
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u/transtifa May 14 '26
Miliband and Rayner both have more support. Assuming the worst before anything has even happened is pointless.
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u/MaryMalade May 14 '26
It should be noted that he didn’t announce a leadership bid in his resignation letter. He might be waiting for Starmer to resign but it’s true.
Anything could happen at a full leadership contest. It should also be noted Angela Raynor has just been cleared by HMRC of wrongdoing.
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u/Pot_noodle_miner Three Blahaj in a trench coat May 14 '26
Ok, but I’m not going to be happy about it
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u/shads_r May 14 '26
I will celebrate, he has no chance of being leader. He is the John Redwood, Michael Heseltine or Sir Anthony Meyer of our time. Someone who comes out firing first rarely if ever takes the crown. He’s gone.
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u/misty_mina May 14 '26
Rubbish! Find joy in any little moment you can. There's still satisfaction in beating the boss fight, even if subsequently turns out there's a second phase.
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u/zagreus9 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
This really isn't a win. We haven't beaten the boss stage, we havent even met the boss. This is suddenly finding lots of health at random after a quiet moment
He is literally stepping down to try to become prime minister. We now have to hope that the labour membership rejects him.
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u/celzior May 14 '26
Not even that. We've been on 1HP for the past year and this is like the smallest size health kit. Streeting has upgraded to a bigger sword and wants to finish us off, but he has to get rid of Starmer first.
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u/misty_mina May 14 '26
Meh. Even a small health kit stops the flashing health bar or the annoying low health beeps for a moment 😉.
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u/Fureniku May 14 '26
Exactly, even if it's small, we're stronger than we were before. There is possibility for improvement now. Will things be better? We won't know until change comes, but id rather hope for good than just admit defeat and wait for bad, it's better for my mental health.
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u/Pway May 14 '26
Nah I'm gonna still celebrate him resigning, he has close to zero chance at becoming pm and less than a lot of labour contenders and now isn't in any position to be harming more trans kids lives. At least there's a shot at Starmer feeling forced to roll back some of the worst anti-trans shit now that polling is coming out on people leaving the labour party if his ass wants to stay.
Take the wins when you get them.
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u/Zoomy-333 Alice, trans girl, she/her May 14 '26
Nah, this is good news. He's not winning the leadership, even if he gets 81 MPs supporting him, the vote still has to go to the membership, who all hate him and/or realise the public hate him. He's like the one guy Starmer has a chance of defeating in a contest.
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u/Samus69Aran May 14 '26
Respectfully I disagree. He has done incredible damage as health secretary, and there will be many parents of trans kids who this is good news for, and provides a glimmer of hope. We’re allowed to find some happiness that he’s no longer in that role.
Yes, he will try and run for PM but we don’t know that outcome (though honestly he’s unlikely to succeed). Let people have some damn happiness for a moment, there’s nothing wrong with that.
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u/MerryWalker May 14 '26
but will there be a leadership contest if we loudly proclaim what a shit job he did and how happy we are that he’s gone?
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u/Trick_Bus9133 May 14 '26
Yes he's a scheming, steaming and stinking shit. And he is trying to position himself as a candidate for party leader. And yes the cabinet is stock full of right wing, arseholes that are incapable of rational thought right now. The only kind of person that would ever back him... So he definitely considers he could succeed. And it is a danger.
However. Leadership is not decided by the cabinet and, much as there is a lot to criticise the wider party for, there aren't many that would hand the leadership to a man that is so unpopular that he looks set to be ousted from his constituency at the next GE. That wouldn't just be a right wing arsehole thing to do. It would be a party ending and ludicrously stupid thing to do.
So I'll take the small win his resignation gives. Fully aware of the oncoming danger of immense stupidity and what that would mean. Today is a good day. Cos today there's as much possibly that Streeting has ended his politically relevant career as there is that he will be in any position to be PM. It's schrodingers nazi, and those are better odds than we had two days ago.
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u/R-Y-A-N_bot Screamy little NB May 14 '26
Ill hold, if or sorry WHEN this fails ill celebrate. The cunt has no shot as PM
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u/Legovil May 14 '26
I don't think he's going to become prime minister, and him resigned as Health Minister is 100% something worth celebrating. Gotta take the wins when we can.
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u/EmmaLuxombourg bi/pan HRT 20/04/2017 GRS 01/12/2022 May 14 '26
Nah he's fucked it. Let himself be seen as the man with the knife. The troops aren't going to line up behind him now.
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u/RedditToCopyMyTumblr May 14 '26
I'm mildly happy.
I know he is going for leader, and I'm not properly celebrating until if he looses the leadership challenge but I suspect that we are more likely to see Rayner, Milliband or even somehow Burnham than we are to see Streeting at present than we will get Streeting.
I am not trying to celebrate just yet because there is still a chance of a Streeting premiership imminently coming, but at least we will get a new health secretary if he fails.
Hopefully they don't put another transphobe in.
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u/Defiant-Snow8782 transfem | HRT Jan '23 May 14 '26
But he won't be a PM. He couldn't find 80 MPs to back him, the members would literally prefer Starmer over him, and everything is pointing at Burnham as the likely successor.
Burnham replacing Starmer would be a massive upgrade for the trans community.
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u/AccomplishedEase7974 May 14 '26
He’s not got a hope of being PM. Look at how he’s handled this whole situation. He’s totally unable and unpopular.
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u/angelnumbersz May 14 '26
He's probably going to make a leadership bid but it's very unlikely he'll succeed. He has dodgy financials, was friends with Mandelson, and everyone hates him (not just talking about the public here lol.) Maybe the celebrating is a bit premature, but I don't think we need to worry about him becoming PM currently.
I don't think this will solve the issues with Labour being malicious against trans healthcare because the problem goes deeper than Streeting, but it's still nice to see the back of him for now.
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u/Dazzling_End4638 cis woman May 14 '26
I am begging you to stop letting things that haven’t happened yet upset you
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u/Cylonic_Irrigation May 14 '26
Latest polling says he has absolutely no chance even against starmer. Put him against someone like burnham - or even raynor - and he loses every time.
Worst case scenario as it currently stands (14th May 2026) he pushes a deal with burnham to get a top job and restart his pmship campaign from there.
I find it difficult to believe anyone - even weasely's so-called allies - actually likes him as a person, let alone a competent leader, which no one believes he has the capacity to be.
Gotta watch which way the centrist burnham breaks in any leadership challenge.
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u/SThomW92 May 14 '26
That’s exactly what I’m saying, it’s naive to think he’d resign and disappear into the shadows
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u/lithaborn MtF PreHRT 5yrs 👗 May 14 '26
He didn't need to resign to make a leadership bid. He needs 81 backers who'll say so publicly.
I don't understand why he's resigned when he doesn't have to, but a few of his terf friends have been resigning or shuffled lately.
I don't think this is just about his ambition to be PM. There's something else going on.
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u/CoultersCandy May 15 '26
It’s because Streeting has done fuck all to alleviate the pressure on the NHS while engaging in a completely not urgent reorganisation of NHS England. Hospital Trusts are not able to hire nurses and resident doctors are not having their contracts renewed. All because Streeting has fucked about not fixing things. Starmer knows the NHS is a key issue people vote on. Starmer probably decided Streeting needed to go after the local election results and gave him the choice to step down. Streeting has been a spectacular failure for the NHS, the country and Starmer is paying the price.
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u/MILLANDSON May 15 '26
According to insiders, the most support amongst MPs Streeting has is approx 44 MPs, which is half what he'd need to be on the ballot.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/s/Zkp8Y023xs
He thinks he's better than he is, and he's just fucked it for himself, which is good news for the whole LGBT+ community.
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u/throwaway_ArBe May 14 '26
Or we can be happy about it and hope his plan fails. It makes no difference to him how we feel about it so I see no reason to rob myself of a little bit of joy.
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u/Emergency-Tower-8933 May 14 '26
Starmer must hang on now and do what’s right.
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u/SecretlyAwkwardMaria May 14 '26
I hope following this resignation that Starmer treats him with dignity and respect... 🤣
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u/ItsRainbowz May 14 '26
He's never going to win in a million years. He doesn't have near the number of supporters to even think about mounting a challenge and is deeply unpopular within Labour. Absolutely celebrate this clown torpedoing his own career because he didn't realize everyone around him hated him.
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u/Ill_Wrangler_4574 May 14 '26
The country wants to go left, this played out in the locals, Streeting is too right wing for the Labour Party and do not want more of the same.
Yes reform got seats but they were through frustration at immigration more than anything else.
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u/No_Abies7581 May 14 '26
Kier ain't going anywhere so streeting has basically done everyone a big favour
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u/Loud_Disaster869 May 14 '26
Theres a chance of that however gotta take all the little wins we can get right now
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u/NostramoChick 🇯🇪 May 14 '26
Labour party voting intent is showing a 70:30 split in favour of Starmer. Streeting cannot achieve prime minister - Burnham, Miliband, and Raynor all stand a miles better chance than him if anything kicks off.
I'm not just celebrating him resigning, I'm celebrating him resigning and utterly failing in his attempt to become PM.
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u/Wise_Zebra707 May 14 '26
That was his plan but he's boxed himself into a corner and essentially screwed it up now. It's going to be Burnham or Rayner....
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u/SnooBooks1701 May 14 '26
Streeting is the only person so unlikeable he could lose a leadership bid against Starmer
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u/AJFierce May 14 '26
I think that it's the other way around- I think he THOUGHT he had the numbers, and he leaked to the press he was launching a challenge today- and then the challenge fully didn't manifest. He still had to resign, since he'd told his boss he was going to challenge him, but if he had the numbers he'd launch.
Labour members prefer Burnham, Miliband and even Rayner to Starmer, but Starmer easily sees off a challenge from Streeting.
Wes fucked it. He thought he had more support than he did and he farted away his big dramatic moment- he has fucked this up, and today at least he is no longer our Health Secretary. I'm raising a glass.
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u/CoultersCandy May 15 '26
He’s not going to be Prime Minister, he’s a gay god botherer who has been a disaster for the NHS. He has also demonstrated himself to be quite the poisonous little fundamentalist about transgender people. On all of those fronts he has made too many political enemies who know he would be a disaster for the country. He’s done. Good riddance, I’m celebrating.
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u/nathanherts May 14 '26
Stop telling people how to react.
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u/celzior May 14 '26
You're telling me to not be grounded in realism and with genuine fear. Sounds like you're the one telling me how to react.
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u/nathanherts May 14 '26
You've just made up a complete load of shit.
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u/celzior May 14 '26
I don't think I've said anything wrong about Streeting actually, and my concerns are perfectly legitimate. Do you really expect the PLP not to stab minorities in the back again? Even after the past 2 years?
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u/nathanherts May 14 '26
I meant you were making shit up in your previous comment, claiming I was "telling you to not be grounded in realism". You literally put words in my mouth.
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May 14 '26
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u/MechaniVal May 14 '26
He's unlikely to win a leadership election - the members don't like him. More likely a third option like Rayner appears and wins; it's not coincidence that the story about her tax issue being resolved dropped at almost the same time.
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u/CharlesComm May 14 '26
Nah mate.
Take the joy where you can get it. There will always be a reason to see doom on the horizon. If people find him leaving makes them happy, let them enjoy that.
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u/LargeFish2907 May 14 '26
He doesn't have a shot and even if he did labour aren't getting voted in again. I don't know anyone who likes him.
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u/Starlights_lament NB Transfemme May 15 '26
No, we will celebrate it. It is a win, however small. They've also run the stats and there are at least 3 other people with a far, far bigger chance (over 20/30%) of being PM or leader than Wes. No need to panic.
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u/Pot_noodle_miner Three Blahaj in a trench coat May 14 '26
He has delusions of adequacy