Keir Starmer had two goals for his Labour conference speech in Brighton. Bury the legacy of Jeremy Corbyn and present himself a potential Prime Minister.
The internal changes he secured which antagonised his party’s left wingers achieved the first goal.
Labour agreed to make it harder for members to deselect MPs and it will also be difficult for a Corbynista to become a leadership candidate in the future.
A rump of pro- Corbyn supporters heckled Starmer throughout his address, but they looked marginalised and defeated.
The other objective - pitching himself as a better bet than Boris Johnson - remains a work in progress.
Starmer has a low profile as Labour leader due to the pandemic, where the focus has been on the actions taken by the Tory Government.
And with Johnson considering an early election in 2023, he is running out of time to make an impression with voters.
His speech, which was both thoughtful and impassioned, pointedly shunned the left wing manifesto of his predecessor.
One criticism of Labour in recent years is that voters have struggled to know what they stand for. This was always a duff argument.
Voters knew what Labour stood for when Corbyn was in charge and they were repelled.
In a telling line, Starmer addressed past defeats to the Tories: “If they are so bad, what does it say about us?”
The challenge for Labour is standing for something credible that can command the support of low and middle income voters.
Starmer’s speech shows he recognises that Labour voters started to switch to the Tories in 2010 and left in their droves thereafter.
Unlike Corbyn and Ed Miliband, Starmer explicitly reached out to these voters and addressed their concerns.
He said a Labour Government would be on the side of the families of victims of crime like Doreen Lawrence, whose son Stephen was murdered.
He also said he believed in a “strong economy” and a “good society”, with the first paying for the second.
His message was that Labour Government will focus on social justice, but not at the expense of fiscal responsibility. He wants people to know he will look after their money.
But the summit he needs to climb is daunting. Johnson enjoys a healthy majority - a lead that will grow if boundary changes are pushed through.
Starmer also knows he needs to win big in England because of the dominance of the SNP in Scotland.
He paid tribute to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and attacked the SNP Government, but he must know any gains north of the border look likely to be limited.
And yet there are signs the political winds may be blowing in Labour’s direction.
Voters are facing a cost of living crisis: rising gas bills; petrol shortages; empty shelves; and a cut to Universal Credit.
The Tories are also raiding the wallets of workers by jacking up their national insurance contributions.
Over the next few weeks, many people will find themselves worse off financially under the Tories - a huge danger for Johnson.
Starmer has big challenges ahead of him, but there are signs Labour may have turned the corner in Brighton.
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