Born to a teen mother and with a bank-robber grandfather, Wes Streeting is the Labour politician with an inspirational backstory. He talks youthful arrogance, not being leftwing enough – and why he wants to be prime minister
• Exclusive extract from Wes Streeting’s memoir
Wes Streeting is standing outside the council flat in Stepney, east London, where he spent the first years of his life. Many politicians would be getting dewy-eyed. But not the shadow health secretary. “This wasn’t a nice place to live,” he says firmly. “I spent most of my childhood thinking I want to escape.” He disliked living in council property and wished his mother had more money and could afford the lifestyle his friend Luke enjoyed; he was embarrassed by his relative poverty.
It looks pretty nice to me, I say: clean, flowers budding in attractive planters, blissfully quiet. “I must say, Tower Hamlets have done a really good job of making it a better place than it was when I was growing up.” We head up to the actual flat, number 22, that Streeting and his mother lived in, and ring the bell. No answer. So we try the neighbour. A friendly man called Rahman answers. He says next door is now rented out. The door of number 22 bursts open and a young woman whooshes past, explaining that she’d not been hiding from us, she’s just in a rush. Streeting tells Rahman he’s a Labour MP in a neighbouring area. Rahman doesn’t recognise him, but wishes him good luck. He’s a Labour supporter.
