FTI Consulting Public Affairs Snapshot: Labour Conference 2023: Did Starmer Sparkle in Liverpool?

The atmosphere of Labour’s annual conference can be summed up in one word: optimism. Riding high in the polls, they received an additional confidence boost with a by-election win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West last week, which Starmer claimed “blew the doors off”. The result exceeded party bosses’ expectations and indicated Labour may be able to count on enough seats in Scotland at the next election to put them closer to forming a majority government.

The mood at conference was, however, tempered by the news of deadly terrorist attacks launched by Hamas against Israel. Starmer condemned the “senseless murder of men, women and children” and said that “Israel must always have the right to defend her people.”

This was the party’s biggest conference in history, with over 18,000 passes applied for and issued. The business day doubled in size from last year, and additional stand space was squeezed in across the secure zone to accommodate all the organisations and businesses wanting to rub shoulders with the party that looks like it may be on course to form the next government. The most dedicated can now purchase a “Sparkle with Starmer” t-shirt, which the party rushed out to capitalise on the images of its leader covered in glitter.

Starmer went on to project himself as a credible, competent, and confident Prime Minister in waiting. The theme of renewal and growth ran through his speech, with Starmer’s key pledge to his party, and the nation, to “get Britain’s future back”. On the conference floor, Starmer’s speech began by celebrating the successes of the previous Labour government, showing that unlike his predecessors, he is not afraid to be associated with Labour’s most successful leader in history, Tony Blair.

Although the conference slogan was somewhat clunky, the five-day event passed with no apparent mishaps by Shadow Ministers or MPs across the well-attended conference fringe. Businesses leaders remarked on the difference between the energy and discipline on display in Liverpool, compared to their experience of the Conservative conference the week before in Manchester. 

In reception after reception, Shadow Ministers made not-so-subtle references to former leader Jeremy Corbyn’s ousting from the party, and their wider message was clear. It is not only the Labour Party that they are interested in transforming, but the country, with Starmer pitching Labour as the party of service: “country first, party second”. Labour delegates from across the country and the trade union movement played their part in showing a united front, crucially voting through Labour’s 116-page National Policy Forum document, which will form the basis of the party’s next General Election manifesto.

Criticism remains that Labour has not announced enough policies. However, this is a deliberate tactic. Labour wants to keep its message clear and to avoid the pitfalls of complicated policy discussions. They will not make uncosted spending commitments, and they do not want to announce too much when there is possibly still a year to run to the election.  

Perhaps the most significant new policy announcement was a pledge by Starmer to build “the next generation of new towns”, including 1.5 million homes, which sits alongside a growing anti-NIMBY sentiment among Labour housing campaigners.

Labour’s commitment to a “green British economy” was also woven through headline speeches, with Shadow Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband pledging an Energy Independence Act to “break Britain’s dependency on fossil fuel dictators”. In response to the Prime Minister’s watering down of policies designed to support a transition to net zero, Labour has not shied away from its pledge to make the UK a clean energy superpower. This approach will be popular with business who are desperate for certainty on the roadmap to net zero, but it may be harder to sell to voters who seemed to back the sentiment behind Sunak’s announcements.

Starmer instead urged businesses to “speed up” their green investments, something that went down particularly well with the large number of clean energy firms present. His commitment to house GB Energy in Scotland was also a clear carrot to Scottish voters.  Miliband made the bold pledge that a Labour government would provide the “greatest investment in homegrown British energy in history”. Yet Labour is well aware of the wider concerns about job security, emphasising that green investment will ensure more, not fewer jobs. Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds went as far as to pledge that “decarbonisation will never, ever mean deindustrialisation”.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her speech and many fringe appearances to cement Labour’s economic credentials, as well as a commitment to fiscal discipline above almost anything else. This has caused some consternation among party members who are keen for some significant spending pledges. After years of her party feeling as though the economy was shaky ground for them, Reeves all but confirmed that Labour will fight the next general election on economic growth. In a role reversal of the past decade, it will now be Labour taking the fight to the Conservatives for not having a proper grip on the public purse and Labour casting themselves as the economic remedy the country needs.

Reeves’ plan to improve Britain, through policies such as the National Wealth Fund and GB Energy, was bolstered by the ex-Governor to the Bank of England, Mark Carney, who declared his support for Reeves, calling her a “serious economist”. Industry, too, praised Labour’s economic plan, with countless CEOs clamouring for a chance to speak with members of the Shadow Cabinet. As Jonathan Reynolds took to the podium, he went as far as to say the party made “no apology” for strengthening its relationship with business and called Labour the “undisputed party of business”.

Despite the optimism demonstrated at conference, if they secure victory at the next election, a Labour government will face economic pressures from all angles. With high inflation and high interest rates, the cost-of-living crisis remains front and centre of voters’ concerns. Labour will have to work hard to make their sums add up to fund the scale of the ambition they set out for Britain this week, evidenced by the £28 billion spending commitment for its flagship “Green Prosperity Plan” being trimmed back after Conservative criticism that it could add billions of debt to the UK’s public finances.

Starmer’s team will consider this week to have been a success, and judging by the optimism from both ordinary party members and the positive reception from business visitors, they are right to. However, whether they did enough to entirely seal the deal with the electorate remains to be seen, and the parties would do well to wait for new polling over the next few weeks to see how their respective efforts in Manchester and Liverpool have been received, and the scale of the challenge ahead for 2024.