How private health has invested in Wes Streeting

Along with his plans for weight-loss jabs and AI-powered diagnostics, Wes Streeting has declared that his prescription for the NHS is “investment and reform”. But what kind of reform has the new health secretary got in mind?

Good Law Project research shows that more than 60% of the money invested in the new health secretary since he entered parliament in 2015 has come from companies and individuals with links to private health.

According to the electoral commission, the largest contribution to Streeting’s political project has come from MPM Connect and OPD Group Ltd, two companies controlled by the recruitment executive Peter Hearn, which have given the Ilford North MP a total of £144,900.

According to EveryDoctor, Hearn’s companies work with “senior NHS executive recruitment and helps private private sector providers recruit healthcare professionals”. Hearn also invested a further £40,000 in Streeting between 2017 and 2019 in a personal capacity.

Next on the list is John Armitage, a hedge fund manager reported to have interests worth more than $500m in United Health – the largest healthcare insurer in the US. Armitage has bankrolled Streeting, including for “staffing costs”, to the tune of £95,000 since 2022.

The health secretary has also taken £13,500 from Sir Trevor Chinn, a senior advisor to a firm holding investments in several private health companies, and £13,000 from Kevin Craig, whose political consultancy advises a Swiss-French firm that provides temporary staff to the NHS, as well as £5,000 from Red Capital Ltd, a company controlled by Lord Jonathan Mendelsohn – a sitting director at private healthcare company the Europa Healthcare Group.

A total of £311,400 has been funnelled from these companies and individuals towards a politician who has staunchly defended the use of private healthcare to bring down NHS waiting lists.

For Jo Maugham, executive director of Good Law Project, these donations raise a series of difficult questions.

“Everyone who cares about the future of the NHS will want to know why so much of the donations Wes Streeting discloses comes from those connected to private healthcare,” Maugham said. “What do they think their money buys? And why is Streeting such a vigorous advocate for private sector involvement in the NHS?”

Wes Streeting has been approached for comment.