North East politicians have spoken of the difference a year makes after the 'Burnham bounce' gave Labour a boost at its annual conference in Liverpool. This time last year, the party was languishing in the polls, and then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his Chancellor Rachel Reeves struggled to dispel the economic gloom hanging over the country.
High-profile interviews by then Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, widely seen as the first shots being fired in his leadership campaign, only irritated party members. A year on, and despite terrible results in May’s local elections in the North East and elsewhere, the party appears to have been re-invigorated by Andy Burnham taking over as Prime Minister.
MPs describe happier mood
Three North East MPs spoken to all described a happier mood within the party since the change of leadership. Signs all around the Liverpool conference say "hope again", and the party faithful seem to believe them.
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram, who is clearly enjoying having the Labour conference on his home patch, spoke for many at an event hosted by North East mayor Kim McGuinness yesterday, when he said: "Isn’t it great to be at a party conference where we don’t have to pretend to be optimistic?"
Burnham's keynote and policy pledges
Mr Burnham will give his keynote speech to the conference today, where he is expected to pledge to tackle the issues politicians "usually avoid" and to set out a "clear direction" for the country. He will unveil a raft of policies on social care, youth unemployment and public control of utilities, with a pledge to hold an "honest conversation" about tough issues.
Yesterday it was the turn of Chancellor John Healey, whose speech - just a few weeks ahead of the Budget - was short on policy but tried to strike an optimistic tone. He warned that the UK didn’t have the money to improve public services that the New Labour Government had in the 1990s, but said he wanted to get more young people back into work by encouraging companies who would not normally do so to take on apprentices.
Challenges remain despite optimism
But that Budget - and the fact that Mr Burnham and Mr Healey face the exact same challenges that weighed so heavily on Sir Keir and Rachel Reeves - is never far from delegates’ minds at the conference. They might be feeling hope again this week, but they know that tougher times are not too far ahead.
The party conference takes place in two large conference centres on Liverpool’s picturesque waterfront, attracting thousands of people from within the party. As well as the big speeches from the conference stage, there are hundreds of other debates taking place on a huge range of subjects, not to mention demonstrations that try to catch some attention outside the conference’s tight security cordon.
It’s also a surprisingly starry affair, particularly if you are interested in politics. The Ministers you see on TV and in Parliament rush past between speaking events, and politically-engaged celebrities can also be spotted (last year Carol Vorderman and Angela Rippon; this year, former England footballer Tony Adams, in a green corduroy suit). Big companies, pressure groups and charities take stands or sponsor debates in the hope of influencing the politicians running our country.
Does any of it matter? Not a huge amount, in some ways. All party conferences, to an extent, involve the faithful talking to each other with the outside world carrying on as normal outside the security gates.
As Sir Keir showed last year, a good conference speech can help a politician win over his own side and energise his party for a little while. But the events that make things tougher in the real world are never far away.
