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.
