Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Over the last couple of months Labour have battled with people not understanding who Keir Starmer is, or what the party stands for. However, with the Brighton backdrop, Labour Party Members gathered for the 2021 Labour Party Conference.
After 18 months of the pandemic, political party conferences have only been able to happen online. And although the SNP and Liberal Democrats are keeping it that way- Labour descended onto Brighton.
Conferences like these enable politicians to share ideas and policies, giving an insight into how they would run the government if in power.
With hecklers, a resignation, a green promise and Keir Starmer’s first speech as party leader, this was a conference that mattered.
Painting The Town Green
“I will be a responsible Chancellor. I will be Britain’s first green Chancellor.”
Taking to the conference stage, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlined her plans for Labour, creating a “green” economy focusing on industries that make up the “everyday economy”.
She said: “I can announce today that I am committing the next Labour government to an additional £28bn of capital investment in our country’s green transition for each and every year of this decade.”
The investment would come from government borrowing, going into tackling climate change for the “green transition”, for generations to come.
She explained: “I will invest in good jobs in the green industries of the future, giga-factories to build batteries for electric vehicles, a thriving hydrogen industry, offshore wind with turbines made in Britain, planting trees and building flood defences, keeping homes warm and getting energy bills down, good new jobs in communities throughout Britain.”
Throughout the speech she spoke on Labour’s commitment to change the tax system, scrapping business rates, ridding private schools of charitable status and failed covid contracts. Overall, making sure money goes towards everyday services like schools and the NHS.
Her speech rang out with promises of her own ambition and of the parties mission, “I will be a responsible Chancellor. I will be Britain’s first green Chancellor.”
The Resignation of Andy McDonald
Revelling from the triumph of Rachel Reeves speech, the resignation of Andy McDonald came as a surprise.
Member of the Shadow Cabinet and previous Shadow Transport Secretary under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, McDonald quit after a disagreement on minimum wage.
“I cannot now look those same workers in the eye and tell them they are not worth a wage that is enough to live on,”
In his letter of resignation, he said that being asked to argue against a £15 an hour national minimum wage, left his position as “untenable“.
His letter outlines: “After many months of a pandemic when we made commitments to stand by key workers, I cannot now look those same workers in the eye and tell them they are not worth a wage that is enough to live on, or that they don’t deserve security when they are ill.”
Speaking about the lack of unity within the party he added, “After 18 months of your leadership, our movement is more divided than ever and the pledges that you made to the membership are not being honoured.”
And although Starmer has thanked McDonald for his support his response says,
“My focus and that of the whole party is winning the next general election so we can deliver for working people who need a Labour government.”
Winning or Unity: The Focus of Keir Starmer
Ahead of his first conference speech as Leader of the party, Sir Keir Starmer had an opportunity to sit down and talk to members of the press.
“I didn’t come into politics to vote over and over again in Parliament and lose and then tweet about it.”
He talked about how he would combat the ongoing fuel shortages, the resignation of Andy McDonald and closing the door on the Corbyn era.
After the resignation letter from Andy McDonald claimed a lack of unity, the BBC’s Political Editor, Laura Kuenssberg, asked whether unity or winning was more important.
He answered: “Winning. Winning a general election. I didn’t come into politics to vote over and over again in Parliament and lose and then tweet about it. I came into politics to go into government to change millions of lives for the better and so that has to be the absolute central focus. It is for me and it should be for every single Labour Party member and supporter.”
The Finale: 17 months, 23 days and two hours
The last day of conference saw Keir Starmer’s finale speech and first conference speech as party leader.
Addressing the current issues faced by the government, Starmer spoke about the ongoing fuel shortages saying, “Level up? You can’t even fill up.”
The speech itself mentioned patriotism, recovering from the pandemic, crime and climate change. Although faced by hecklers, this was Starmer’s opportunity to diminish any doubts over who he is as a leader and the message of the party.
Boris Johnson and his Conservative party members have gathered in Manchester this week, and for both leaders, these have been opportunities to make an impact ready for the next general election.
Featured image courtesy of Benjamin Hollway on Unsplash. No changes or alterations were made to this image. Image license can be found here.
Neve Gordon-Farleigh
Neve is a 21 year old freelance journalist, and our Head Current Affairs and Instagram Editor for Empoword Journalism. She specialises in social media journalism and runs the Journo Resources Tik Tok page. You can find her on Twitter @Neve_GF.