FTI Consulting Public Affairs Snapshot: Labour Party Conference 2024: Change begins, but an impatient country awaits

With negative newspaper headlines souring the start of conference, the speeches from the Cabinet were an opportunity to reset the narrative, remind the public of Labour’s vision and project an image of a government both focused on the task at hand and ambitious for the country’s future. The conference slogan – “Change Begins” – sought to present the government at an inflection point. While Ministers warned that “difficult decisions” would be needed to steer the country through stormy economic waters, a brighter future lies ahead.

Starmer’s administration remains focused on cementing the inheritance message, seeking to pin the economic legacy on their predecessors, but they also used conference to pivot towards their own direction of travel. The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, pledged to “change the future of the North of England”, while the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, argued that worrying economic forecasts won’t “dim our ambition for Britain”. These glimmers of hope were welcomed by enthusiastic delegates faced with a more subdued atmosphere than they may have anticipated.

Today, on the penultimate day of conference, the Prime Minister addressed a hall filled with the party faithful. Amid murmurs among MPs and advisers that recent speeches have overdone the doom-and-gloom, this was an opportunity to inject some optimism into the government’s messaging.

Ultimately, Starmer’s conference keynote was a speech of two halves. While maintaining that the Conservatives had wreaked long-term damage on the country, he encouraged delegates to look to the future, beyond the “tough decisions” he had warned of from the Downing Street garden last month and towards the prospect of “national renewal” ahead. In a speech with few policy announcements, a slip up when referring to “hostages” as “sausages” will no doubt be the subject of memes for days to come.

Yet so far, despite a bumpy run-up, conference has passed without any major issues. Awkward questions about donations and in-fighting rumbled on, but there have been no serious fresh revelations. The sense among veteran members in attendance, remembering the mishaps of the early Blair government, is that these “scandals” can be overcome – that they aren’t a sign of crisis but instead a reflection of the teething problems being faced by a government with over four and half years left to run.

Protests were limited. A march calling for an arms embargo to Israel attracted large crowds, and there was a brief interruption to Reeves’ speech along similar lines, yet this gave the Chancellor an opportunity to repeat a line the Prime Minister has used in similar situations: “This is a changed Labour party […] not a party of protest.”

The formal policy-making purpose of conference returned and, as anticipated, the thorniest issue on the conference floor was a Unite motion on the winter fuel allowance, condemning the government’s decision to means-test the payment for pensioners. While the motion carries no weight, Starmer will be pleased to see the vote delayed to Wednesday morning, when post-conference newspaper headlines have been written and many delegates are already on the train home.

However, while Reeves’ commitment to fiscal discipline has been critical to generating support for Labour from big business, many MPs and Ministers are uneasy with the Conservative Party emerging as champions of universal benefits. “Frockgate” will pass, but the winter fuel issue will continue to rumble on into the Budget and beyond, and the Prime Minister has his work cut out keeping MPs, with full inboxes on the issue, on side.

Also being courted was the private sector. Labour Business Day had been likened to Glastonbury for the speed at which corporate executives rushed to secure a spot, and headliners Starmer, Reeves and Reynolds were tasked with convincing anxious CEOs that they were still being listened to. However, the networking roundtables which had proved so popular in recent years were replaced with speeches and “in conversation” events. Feedback from the sector was of a more lacklustre day, with limited interaction and a sense that the Treasury will remain tight-lipped until October’s Budget.

Nervous whispers at receptions aside, big business recognises the strength of the government’s mandate and is keen to be consulted on change. Reeves’ key challenge now will be to deliver a strong Industrial Strategy and convince international investors that Britain is an attractive place to do business. With the Investment Summit around the corner, the Chancellor displayed in her conference speech a willingness to change tack, perhaps realising the risk that pessimistic messaging on the economy becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, damaging consumer confidence and warding off investors.

Ultimately, despite attempts to shift the dial away from negative headlines, this year’s conference was a relatively sober one for a party which ostensibly had so much to celebrate. Yet Ministers publicly and privately were determined and optimistic. As one Secretary of State put it, the worst days of government are better than the worst days of opposition. However, there is no denying that hopes of a honeymoon period for Starmer’s government have proved short-lived, and while his team will return to Westminster relieved that no disasters emerged, several cracks remain.