Keir Starmer’s first conference speech as Prime Minister neatly embodied the past three days in Liverpool: patchy, uninspiring, with a strong finish and the promise of better tidings tomorrow. Starmer took to the stage today after a conference that feels more muted than Labour’s landslide victory might suggest. His speech was accordingly light on policy but heavy on warnings about what is likely to lie ahead.
This fits with the broad theme of new Labour premiers meeting their party after taking power. Much like Clement Attlee, Harold Wilson and Tony Blair in 1946, 1964 and 1997, Keir Starmer chose to use his first speech to be honest with his party. He spoke of ‘trade offs’ in one of the more thoughtful sections of his speech, warning how ‘if we want justice to be served some communities must live close to new prisons’ and ‘if we want cheaper electricity, we need new pylons overground’.
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