Labour’s bid to lose the next election has begun

Sir Keir stamped the Labour conference with his personality today. And the mark he left was very bland, vague and colourless – but hard to dislike.

Mum and Dad featured prominently. Sir Keir treats his parents like a couple of pet hedgehogs whose habits still amuse him as he looks back on his childhood. His father, a busy tool-maker, liked to toil over his instruments and to dispense wisdom at the kitchen table. 

His mother was a hard-working nurse whose career was curtailed by a debilitating illness. He described her sprawling helplessly in intensive care – ‘Mum’s bed a riot of tubes’ – while four nurses strove to keep her alive. All very touching. 

More Kleenex was required as he moved to the failings of the police. While he was head of the CPS he befriended the parents of two separate murder victims. They were present in the crowd and he asked them to acknowledge the general applause.