Is Labour ready for power?

Labour conference has been pretty strange so far. Not the sort of strange that parties in opposition get comfortably used to: eccentric stalls in the conference centre, frontbenchers sounding off about their own pet projects that directly contradict what the leader is up to, or fights between members on the conference floor (sometimes involving inflatable animals to get more attention). But strange because of the absence of those things, and a seriousness that has quite visibly changed the demeanour of most people in Liverpool.

Yes, there are gripes from the conference floor about Keir Starmer not turning up to picket lines, but the membership is upbeat and largely supportive of the Labour leader. This is in part because so many members have left the party in recent months – around 90,000 – and most of those fleeing were Corbynite types who were deeply unhappy at the new leadership. This has changed the atmosphere at conference, to the delight of party staffers who have also spent months ejecting members for disciplinary matters.