Things we learned at the Labour Party conference

Sir Keir Starmer said the party was on a journey from protest to power – although one glitter-throwing demonstrator did not get the memo.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said the UK faces many challenges (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Labour’s conference in Liverpool has ended with the traditional renditions of the Red Flag and Jerusalem.

Here’s what we learned during the party’s time on the banks of the Mersey:

– At a highly disciplined conference with MPs on their best behaviour and almost no feuds, a glitter-throwing protester provided some drama by disrupting Sir Keir Starmer’s keynote speech. The (literally) sparkling Labour leader took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, later saying he was determined not to let an “idiot” derail his attempt to deliver a crucial address ahead of the general election expected next year.

– Labour is keen to show people the “real” Keir Starmer. Sir Keir ditched his tie for the conference curtain-raiser interview with the BBC and his wife Victoria has played a prominent role by his side – the pair were photographed strolling along the River Mersey and sharing a relaxed breakfast before his crunch conference speech. But her role was relatively restrained compared with Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty’s on-stage love letter to her husband at the Tory gathering.

– Sir Keir is in a secure position as Labour leader, but at 61 and setting out plans for at least a decade in power, the next generation of senior figures in the party is already attracting a lot of attention. Fringe events featuring the 40-year-old Wes Streeting were routinely packed while those featuring 44-year-old shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves have been standing room only. Deputy leader Angela Rayner, 43, delivered a crowd-pleasing speech to kick off the conference before keeping a lower and more tempered profile than in previous years.

– In John Lennon’s home city, Sir Keir presented himself as a working class hero. He talked about smashing the “class ceiling”, saying that the biggest barrier facing some young people in poorer households was not their talent but the “nagging voice” that held them back from seizing opportunities because of their background.

– The mass killing of Israeli civilians by Hamas cast a sombre shadow over the Labour conference where it also posed tricky questions for a party whose membership has often sought to raise the struggles of the Palestinian people. Sir Keir swiftly condemned Hamas as “terrorists”. Jeremy Corbyn, attending a nearby left-wing festival, resisted directly criticising the militants who rule over Gaza. The drastic change in the party since Mr Corbyn’s leadership, during which Palestinian flags were waved in the conference hall, was further demonstrated when the audience was brought to its feet by Sir Keir using his keynote speech to forcefully support Israel’s right to defend itself. The transition did not go without hitch, however. Shadow minister Afzal Khan was forced to apologise for appearing at a Palestine Solidarity Campaign stall calling for the end of the “apartheid” in Israel.

– Former senior civil servant and partygate investigator Sue Gray was seen prowling the conference after being installed as Sir Keir’s chief of staff, in a sign Labour is getting ready for government after more than a decade in opposition. Frontbenchers were coming up with plans to hit the ground running and there was no shortage of warnings of the task ahead, with Sir Keir arguing that as prime minister he would face a combination of the challenges taken on by predecessors Sir Tony Blair, Harold Wilson and Clement Attlee.

– The party is unashamedly trying to occupy the political centre ground, believing the Tories have drifted to the right and left moderate voters up for grabs. Sir Keir highlighted in his conference speech how he had transformed Labour since Mr Corbyn’s leadership to no longer being a party of “gesture politics” and “protest”. Labour aides were eager to stress the differences between their conference and the Tories’ gathering last week, which was considered a more muted affair, as Rishi Sunak scrapped the Manchester leg of HS2 while speaking from a convention centre in a former train station in that very city.

– Echoes of the New Labour era were all around. Lord Mandelson was touring the conference telling anyone who would listen Sir Keir had returned the party from “weird to normal”. Sir Keir referenced New Labour anthem Things Can Only Better, and when the D:Ream classic was pumped out at the wildly popular Daily Mirror party on the closing night, the dancefloor was packed with party aides.

– Labour insiders believe Mr Sunak will call a May election and the party said its finances were in a position to “invest more in this campaign than ever before”. But they are acutely aware that overturning the crushing defeat of 2019 is a huge task, and must work flat out if they are to stand a chance of making it to No 10.