With the TUC and Liberal Democrats finished with their annual jamborees in Brighton, it’s now time for the annual conference bandwagon to roll into Liverpool for Labour’s get together.
Unsurprisingly, Labour’s first annual party conference in government in 15 years means that there will be a huge business presence in Liverpool this year. Commercial passes sold out long ago, which demonstrates that businesses and trade organisations see this year’s conference as a great opportunity to meet with the new generation of Labour ministers and MPs.
This is largely correct, and with much legislation having started but not completed its parliamentary journey, now is a good time to be raising the profile of your organization amongst key Labour decisionmakers. To do so effectively, organisations need to ensure that their commercial objectives are framed around Labour’s political priorities and the missions in particular. Labour ministers are looking for solutions, not problems.
But legislation isn’t everything and conference will be a chance to understand Labour’s thinking on key issues. Look out for some pitch-rolling on policy discussions that aren’t current priorities but which could climb up the agenda in the future, particularly those that advance Labour’s core missions.
As the warm white wine flows at the various fringe events, it’s easy to forget that annual conference also serves a formal constitutional purpose for the Labour Party to formally agree various internal positions. This is less important now that the party is in government and policy formation is very different, but party organizers will still be keen to manage the floor to avoid any potentially problematic motions from CLP delegates (e.g. on winter fuel or Gaza). The Corbynite left has been largely marginalised, so expect warm words and rounds of applause for Labour’s new NEC members (most likely from the Starmerite Labour to Win slate) and for Hollie Ridley, Labour’s new General Secretary.
The mood will be celebratory following the emphatic win at the general election in July, and Starmer will be sure to thank all Labour delegates and volunteers for their hard work during the campaign. But the leader’s speech is the focal point of any party conference and Starmer will need to use his to make several political points and communicate them effectively to his various target audiences.
He will use his speech to continue to hammer home the argument that the Tories left Labour a terrible economic inheritance, and that he and Reeves are now taking the difficult but necessary decisions. This argument is essential for Labour’s long-term narrative, but Starmer may also choose to use his conference speech to balance this argument by speaking more optimistically about what all this pain is actually for.
A long-term vision never quite emerged during a summer election campaign that was predominately focused on ‘change’ as well as the core missions. But this conference speech could be an opportunity to set out what a ‘changed’ UK might look like under prime minister Starmer, after the painful budget decisions are taken next month.
This year’s Labour party conference will be fascinating for anyone who is interested in understanding how this Labour government will operate. Whitehouse’s specialist Labour Engagement Forum will be in Liverpool so if you want to discuss how to effectively engage with Labour politicians, or if you just want to catch up in between fringe events, then do get in touch.
