Quote of the day
If you are a Conservative voter who despairs of this, if you look in horror at the descent of your party into the murky waters of populism and conspiracy, with no argument for economic change, if you feel our children need a party that conserves, that fights for our union, our environment, the rule of law, family life, the careful bond between this generation and the next, then let me tell you, Britain already has one. And you can join it – it’s this Labour party.
A long one, arguably in need of couple of full stops, but the heartfelt central argument of Keir Starmer’s conference speech.
Row of the day
In a highly disciplined conference almost devoid of rows we finally had some drama – though not an actual argument – when a protester showered Starmer with glitter as he began his speech, a protest that subsequently turned out to be about proportional representation.
While the messengers were radical – People Demand Democracy, a group associated with Just Stop Oil – the issue of proportional representation is very much a live debate in Labour, with Starmer holding out against the desire of party members for electoral reform.
Tweet of the day
Labour Students makes a virtue of the protest
Will be free glitter on the door for anyone at our Labour Students Disco tonight!
— Labour Students (@LabourStudents) October 10, 2023
Shine like Keir ✨🪩
Wednesday’s highlights
Without any disrespect to the shadow ministers delivering speeches in the final half-session, this is something of a graveyard slot, with many conference attenders either packing on to trains – every Wednesday morning service from Liverpool to London is sold out – or nursing hangovers from the final-night parties.
Among those trying to whip up the remaining faithful will be the shadow education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, and Jonathan Ashworth, who as shadow paymaster general has an election-focused role. It will be Ashworth’s job to make the final speech, a traditionally jokey but uplifting affair, intended to send delegates home with a spring in their step.
