10 things we learnt from the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool

After four days of big political action, the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool has drawn to a close. It was an event dominated by weather - both real and political - as Sir Keir Starmer aimed to set out his government's vision for the months and years ahead.

This was the third year in a row that Labour has brought its showpiece annual event to Liverpool and they did so against a very difficult backdrop of rows about donations and headlines about internal fights amongst key government staff. ECHO reporters covered all four days of the busy conference and here are a few things we learnt along the way.

1. The weather really does dictate the mood

After a quieter start on Sunday, the conference truly swung into action on Monday as Chancellor Rachel Reeves made her main speech. With Keir Starmer’s Labour positioning itself as the party of business, it was a very busy day, full of party members and representatives from the private sector.

Unfortunately, the day was dominated by torrential rain. Attendees arrived soaked through, huddled inside the arena, convention centre and exhibition centre and spirits certainly did feel like they were dampened. The Liverpool waterfront is a beautiful setting for the conference when the weather is good, but it can be a difficult terrain to navigate when battling torrential rain and high winds.

With Britain’s economy in the doldrums, Ms Reeves’ speech was never going to be the cheeriest. But the biblical rain meant that Monday really did have a gloomy feel. Tuesday and Wednesday, however, were thankfully much drier. As a result it felt considerably more positive and set the Prime Minister up nicely for his keynote address.

2. Mick Lynch still has star quality

The general secretary of the RMT is an incredibly popular figure among left-wingers, rising to prominence during rail strikes that began in 2022. He spoke at a fringe event on Sunday, the first day of the conference, calling on Labour to go further with its plans to nationalise aspects of the railway.

While Mr Lynch does not have quite the level of profile he had a couple of years ago, the event, held in the Hilton Hotel, was still packed to the rafters, with many attendees wanting to hear from the union boss. He was his usual punchy self - slamming The S*n and aiming a dig at Sir Keir Starmer about the ongoing clothes donation row, which dominated the news cycle heading into the conference.

3. Things are different when the government is in town

Though the main hall speeches from Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Ms Reeves and the Prime Minister are the key events of the conference, you can usually expect some intrigue at the fringe events. Often, union representatives and back benchers who may not be completely in line with the government, can be found challenging the administration and making some more controversial interventions.

However, this is now a very disciplined Labour Party and most of its MPs (especially now it has suspended a group of rebels) and guests are very happy to stay in line and not upset the apple cart. Other than the aforementioned Mr Lynch, most people speaking on the fringes that the ECHO attended were very much in keeping with the government’s messaging. Which, if we are honest, made them a little dull.

4. Starmer knows he has been too gloomy

While Keir Starmer will always want to be a pragmatist and will never be known for soaring political rhetoric, there was a clear emphasis from the Prime Minister and his Chancellor to try and lift the mood around the country and inject a little optimism in their keynote speeches at this conference.

There is a general consensus that the new Prime Minister's tactic of levelling with the British people actually went too far - particularly his Downing Street rose garden speech at the start of the month - and has left people without much hope. Throw in the donations row and the hugely controversial decision to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners and Labour headed into this conference looking like a dying government, not one that was elected with a landslide just under three months ago.

But whether the Prime Minister's message of there being light at the end of this particularly difficult tunnel for the country will have changed the mood of the nation will remain to be seen. Next month's budget could have a lot to do with that.

5. Painful sausage gaff will be hard to forget

Starmer's speech was largely solid, if not unremarkable. But there was one astounding moment that he may struggle to shake - especially if the rapid-fire rate of social media memes is anything to go by. When talking about the crisis in the Middle East, the Prime Minister - intending to say 'release the hostages', accidentally said 'release the sausages' before correcting himself. It was a genuine 'did that just happen?' moment and unfortunately for the PM, yes it did.

6. Winter fuel anger is all around

Amongst the veritable smorgasbord of difficulties facing this fledgling government, the one that was most visible at this conference concerned their hugely contentious decision to cut winter fuel allowance payments for millions of pensioners.

When the Chancellor took to the stage on Monday, she did so as scores of angry and worried Merseyside pensioners held a protest at her plans. Then, on the final day of the conference on Wednesday, when most things were dying down, the big noise of the day came as the Unite union successfully passed a motion calling for a reversal in the winter fuel decision. It was a non-binding vote, but an embarrassing moment for the government nonetheless.

7. Confusion over Liverpool-Manchester rail plans

Looking at local issues and the conference brought with it some confusion over a huge promised cash injection for improved rail links between Liverpool and Manchester. The former Conservative Transport Secretary Mark Harper pledged to provide £12 billion that he said was freed up from the cancellation of the northern leg of HS2 to go towards new high speed lines between the two north west cities and improved stations at either end.

But Labour's new transport boss Louise Haigh said this plan and all other projects that were promised by the outgoing Tory administration would now have to be looked at and assessed again. Ms Haigh said she could make no funding commitments at this stage.

But that kind of talk could create some tensions with the mayors of the two city regions involved. When asked about Ms Haigh's comments at the conference, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham insisted that the money had been set aside for the major rail project. He said he had received no indication that the previously earmarked funding was no longer available. He said: "That’s the position we have got and nothing and nobody has contacted us to say anything different.” An interesting one to watch.

8. Liverpool victory as Manchester bus goes missing

Scousers are always happy to score a win over their rivals down the M62 and there were bragging rights for Mayor Steve Rotheram over his pal and counterpart Mr Burnham during an event to show off new electric buses being used across the country.

Journalists had been invited down to see the new models of buses, which were due to be on show near Mann Island. However while the buses from London, Merseyside and even Warrington were in pride of place, the Manchester bus never materialised, having been snarled up in traffic on the way. A win is a win.

9. Liverpool could be getting a tourist tax

One interesting line that did come out of a fringe meeting was to hear Liverpool Council leader Liam Robinson spell out his ambition for a new tourist tax in the city. He told a discussion about local growth plans that the city is 'crying out' for a new visitor charge to boost the coffers of the city council. Manchester has already led the way on this, will Liverpool be next to follow? When you look at the sheer volume of people staying in the city this week, you can see how this measure could bring plenty of extra cash into the city.

10. People love coming to Liverpool

Now the weather may not have played ball - and that is a real shame - but it was clear once again how much journalists, politicians and delegates enjoy coming to Liverpool for Labour's Party Conference. From conversations we had with many across the four days, there was a lot of love for the energy of the city, the beautiful architecture and the cracking local boozers. They can do it all again next year as the event returns to the city.