Labour Party conference in Brighton, 25-29 September, was hailed by Labour’s right wing as a triumph on the strength of rule changes pushed through at short notice and of Keir Starmer’s speech.
In between the rule changes (in the first days of conference) and Keir Starmer’s speech (at the end), conference was more lively.
The speech got standing ovations, but leaders’ speeches pretty much always do. Even sceptical delegates know that the media is watching. And, as usual, many delegates had already gone home. Their places in the conference hall had been filled with preselected Starmer supporters.
Everything depends on progress in the unions, on constituency Labour activists sticking to it rather than despairing at the right’s cries of triumph, and on how well the labour movement fights the coming attempts by Tories and bosses to cut costs and balance budgets post-Brexit, post-lockdowns. The fight is still on.
