Reflections from Simon Darby, Head of Public Affairs at PLMR
Some 20,000 people descended on Liverpool for Labour Party conference as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer sought to reset the party’s approach to government with the slogan ‘Change Begins.’ Against a backdrop of continued questions about donations and the stories about the PM’s Chief of Staff Sue Gray, the conference had an atmosphere of getting on with the job rather than any of the celebratory scenes seen at conference following the election win in 1997. The overcast skies, heavy rain and subsequent flooding of parts of the conference centre further reduced the atmosphere.
In the main hall, Starmer used his set-piece speech to frame an argument that difficult decisions were necessary, but would help to build a stronger Britain in the future, following calls from Cabinet ministers to offer more hope after the negative tones offered over recent months. This went down well in the hall, but reports from the press have been predictably mixed, and policy detail remains scarce.
Much of what was said at conference by MPs had been heard before, with the Budget a month away cited as a key moment in the calendar to understand how the government will set out to achieve its objectives. With that said, whilst there has been patience amongst businesses and industry for the government to settle in and get their priorities solved, there is now an increasing appetite for Labour to put some meat onto the bone of their objectives.
Ultimately, this government will be re-elected if they are deemed competent by the electorate, and can make progress on key public priorities such as the economy, health, immigration, education, and law and order. The cabinet and party faithful will hope that conference has helped to set this in motion, but the devil will be in the detail, with the electorate keen to see progress quickly.
At PLMR we were delighted to once again host a range of insightful panel discussions and networking reception in our PLMR Policy Hub at the heart of Conference. We welcomed a range of senior Labour ministers and MPs including Lord Hunt, Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero and Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin for debates around the future of skills policy and Labour’s plans for delivering net zero.
