#Lab23: Building power across the movement
Whether you attended in person, followed events from home or just tuned in for the Leader's speech, this was a conference unlike others in recent years.
It was described by some in the media as the moment Labour really became a government in waiting. But for all the optimism in Liverpool, terrible international events sadly cast a dark shadow over Labour’s annual gathering. Our campaign sends its solidarity to all those who have been affected by the situation in Israel and Palestine.
For the #Labour4PR campaign, this conference was the moment our progress in recent years was formally recognised in official policy.
On Sunday 8 October, conference voted by an overwhelming margin to ratify the National Policy Forum document containing a strong criticism of the current “flawed” voting system - a driver of "distrust and alienation" in politics.
With the party programme recognising that First Past the Post is broken, this conference demonstrated the breadth and strength of support for fixing it.
From trade union general secretaries like Naomi Pohl and Mick Whelan, to NEC members like Luke Akehurst and Ann Black.
From Labour mayors like Andy Burnham and Nik Johnson, to the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, Lucy Powell.
From First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford, to Westminster MPs, Holyrood MSPs, and affiliated socialist societies.
And across the next Parliamentary Labour Party, including Prospective Parliamentary candidates like Chris Curtis, Julia Buckley, Jeevun Sandher, Louise Jones, John Grogan, Andrew Ranger and many more.
In his speech, Keir Starmer put his finger on the problem: "The walls of Westminster are so high... the shallow men & women of Westminster are unable to see, unable to listen, unable to stand in your shoes".
"The walls of Westminster are so high... the shallow men & women of Westminster are unable to see, unable to listen, unable to stand in your shoes"@Keir_Starmer on a political system that isn't working for millions of us. We need a Labour government to restore trust in politics pic.twitter.com/tgosOfFidP
— LCER (@Labour4PR) October 10, 2023
Our campaign is now about building power and understanding across the Labour movement: emboldening Labour in government to respond to the distrust and alienation that cuts Westminster off from the country - and addressing the flawed voting system at the heart of our broken politics.
And, to be clear, our campaign is not about the kind of misguided actions we saw at the start of the Leader's speech.
A huge thank you to our brilliant team of volunteers and delegates who supported the campaign at this year's conference.
If you missed out, recordings of our Saturday night fringe event and Sunday night rally will soon be available on the website.
‘Conference backed PR a year ago – now Labour must fix first past the post’
By Samuel Kind
This year’s Labour conference is designed to be an upbeat and inspiring affair: the final battery charge for the faithful ahead of the looming general election. Knowing it is likely the last conference before the country goes to the polls always raises the stakes, and the party will be looking to energise the canvassers and prospective parliamentary candidates who will take Labour’s message to doorsteps across the nation…
