Labour must seize its moment and get ready to transform Britain in power once again, Angela Rayner said.
In a tub-thumping speech closing the party’s conference in Liverpool, she urged members to prepare for an election.
The deputy Labour leader declared now is the “moment to show the country that we are ready to govern”.
In a brutal slapdown of Liz Truss ’s government, she argued the Tories are “no longer pretending to be competent and stable” as they “plunge us into chaos”.
The country has suffered days of extraordinary economic turmoil after Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng ’s disastrous plan to hand billions to the super-rich backfired spectacularly.
At the same time, Labour has been buoyed by opinion polls that suggest Keir Starmer is set to snatch the keys to No 10 at the next election.
In her speech yesterday, Mrs Rayner said: “We’ve shown this week how different we’ll be. Not just in our vision but with our plan for Britain.
“Starting with the biggest challenge facing not just our country but the world. We will tackle the climate crisis head on, we will protect our people and our planet, and we will pull out all the stops to build a fairer and greener Britain.”
At the gathering in Liverpool, the deputy leader said the party has “shown how together we will transform this country”.
“Now, let’s rise to the moment and deliver for the working people of Britain with a Labour Government in power once again,” she declared.
“Too often when it comes to elections, people feel they have a choice of heart versus head.
Values or competence. This week we have shown it's a choice you will never have to make again.”
In contrast, she said the Tories who are led by “clowns” are no longer a “party of serious government”.
“Tough on crime? They brought crime to No 10. Defenders of the free market? The market’s in free fall. England’s green and pleasant land? Frack it.
“From the party of stability to causing earthquakes, from the party of business to a slap down from the IMF, from the party of serious government to the party of parties.”
She continued: “GPs are overwhelmed, ambulances not turning up, beds are full, waiting times are rocketing, the NHS is starved of investment and, it’s all the fault of Tory decisions.
‘It will take a Labour government to put that right.”
Mrs Rayner argued that Mr Starmer has “showed the real leadership this country needs” as she highlighted Labour’s plans including 13,000 more police officers, free school breakfasts for children and help to get people on the property ladder.
To rapturous applause, she listed the achievements of previous Labour governments that had “made history”.
“The NHS, social security, the welfare state, council housing, modern higher education, the Open University, decriminalising homosexuality, outlawing racial discrimination, introducing equal pay, the National Minimum Wage, Sure Start,” she said.
“The Good Friday Agreement, civil partnerships, the Equality Act, the Human Rights Act, the world’s first Climate Change Act.”
The spotlight will now turn to Birmingham which will host the Conservative Party conference, which begins on Sunday.
The gathering is expected to be overshadowed by bitter infighting over Miss Truss’s botched handling of the economy.
