When Andy Burnham announced his first cabinet in July, few would have had Wes Streeting marked down as a likely defence secretary. And no one is more bullish about Wes’s life chances than Wes. It just didn’t seem a natural fit.
Defence secretaries tend to be more the unsmiling types who operate in the shadows. Politicians like John Healey, with the pallor of someone who has spent too long in underground bunkers with military chief of staffs. People who slide in and out of rooms without making a fuss.
Wes has always been someone who likes to be noticed. Enjoys the theatre of Westminster. The first to arrive at a party and the last to leave.
At the recent Labour party conference, he kept his appearances distinctly low key. No longer the life and soul of Liverpool, out till 2am before getting up to do the media round just four hours later. It can’t be long before we see him driving a tank somewhere near the Russian border.
He also has the distinct advantage of not being Penny Mordaunt, the former Tory minister who has done more to terrify a nation than any living defence secretary. A few weeks ago, Sky broadcast The War Game, a reality show for superannuated politicians in which Michael Gove was cast as the prime minister and Penny as defence secretary. The set up was that Russia had torpedoed a ship off Scotland, with the politicians and the military placed in a mock-up Cobra meeting and left to come up with responses as the situation developed.
This could have been the moment to restore faith in our democratic institutions. To admire the insight and clarity with which our leaders handle a crisis. To see how they repay the trust and power which we bestow on them.
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