Labour conference this year has been remarkably drama-free. There has been none of the scandal of recent years: no frontbench resignations or attempts to abolish the deputy leader. It has gone smoothly, and stands in stark contrast to the goings on outside Liverpool – where the markets have reacted viscerally to the Conservatives’ tax-cutting bonanza and the pound has fallen to historic lows. Kwasi Kwarteng’s “mini-budget” was not just a gift for Labour, but a very well-timed one. The opposition party has had four days of coverage to comment on the abysmal week that Liz Truss is having.
The party has quietly been putting some meat on the bones of its policy offer (although some of it has been a bit more of a confirmation than an unveiling – see Louise Haigh on renationalising the railways, for example). Starmer is countering Truss’s growth rhetoric with some economic growth plans of his own; he unveiled a plan to turn the UK into a “clean energy superpower” as conference kicked off and used his conference speech to tell the public that Labour will “fight the Tories on economic growth”.
Some policy motions not in keeping with the leadership’s position did sneak through, such as committing the party to adopting a switch to proportional representation for general elections. Another was proposed on Monday by Unison, committing Labour to a £15 minimum wage. One from Aslef supported MPs joining picket lines and another from Unite was on public ownership. But the leadership has largely got its way on the conference floor, and even where it hasn’t, few problems have been posed for Starmer. The leadership is not bound by policy passed at Labour’s annual conference – even if motions are passed unanimously. It is Labour’s national policy forum (NPF) and “clause V” meeting before an election that decides which parts of the party programme are included in the manifesto.
Other proposals that could have caused Starmer a headache did not even make it to the conference floor. Labour for a Green New Deal’s motion, committing the party to public ownership, was controversially ruled out of order last week for “covering more than one topic”. The same thing happened last year, although in 2021 the group successfully appealed against the ruling and its motion was put to delegates on the conference floor – and passed. A motion put to conference by “Labour for labour” (a Momentum-led campaign to push Starmer to mandate frontbenchers to attend picket lines) was weeded out during the priorities ballot on Saturday evening, which is a vote by delegates determining which motions will be debated by conference.
It helped, too, that this conference wasn’t all about rules. Starmer’s first in-person Labour party conference in 2021 was all about pushing through amendments to change the party’s constitution, some of which were mandated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission investigation into antisemitism within Labour. As members travelled to Liverpool this time, however, the most talked-about debates were over policy.
Some rule changes were passed, although not as many and not as far-reaching as 2021 – and all were proposed by the national executive committee, on which there is a pro-Starmer majority. The most notable were changes meaning that constituency Labour parties (CLPs) will be required to submit motions one year in advance of a conference – significantly changing the way in which groups will need to run campaigns – and that the conference arrangements committee (CAC), which decides the timetable for Labour conference and what motions are considered, will be elected by conference delegates rather than the membership as a whole (as it currently is).
Labour is looking increasingly likely to win the next election. In fact, MRP polling for LabourList this week showed a 12-point lead over the Conservatives, which would hand the party a 56-seat majority. This is not to say that things will not change before we get to an election – a poll is only ever a snapshot of the current mood, after all. But things are looking positive. A key worry now is complacency; that Labour falls into the trap of not doing enough to put forward the positive vision – in the hope that not rocking the boat too much will see Starmer enter Downing Street.
Truss’s fortunes will improve, if only because she has set the bar so low, and Starmer cannot rely on winning by default. Past leaders – Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson, Tony Blair – have all shown that Labour wins when it is radical. Truss has shown us how terrible she is, now Starmer must set out the compelling alternative and show how a Labour government would be radically different.
Elliot Chappell is editor of LabourList
