Keir Starmer used his party conference speech to sharpen his message and go heavy on patriotism in a pitch to ‘hero voters’
As an exercise in party management, this has been the most successful conference for Labour since Tony Blair’s last in 2006.
There was buyer’s remorse the moment Gordon Brown took over in 2007; the conferences of the Ed Miliband years left deeper scars than evident in public; and that was nothing compared to the civil war of the Corbyn era.
Last year, Keir Starmer’s first proper conference was consumed by clashes with his left flank and Corbyn groupies.
This year, his own party – with a very different membership turning up in Liverpool – decided to give Keir Starmer pretty much a clear run.
Politics Hub: Live updates from Labour conference
That’s meant the question all week has been whether today’s speech connects with the public, makes an argument for a better Britain that voters can believe and is memorable enough to impact on a noisy political scene.
To do this, Keir Starmer has changed speechwriters. Gone were the authors of last year’s windy treatise that overstayed its welcome.
In its place is Alan Lockey, who worked for Tony Blair’s policy chief Matthew Taylor at the Royal Society of Arts. The change was noticeable: the speech more muscular, more tightly constructed and with sharper phrasing than anything previously seen from this leader.
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Starmer lashed out at energy initiatives in the UK being owned by foreign companies before making the announcement.
The three themes listeners were bludgeoned with all the way through the hour were patriotism, solidarity and integrity.
Praise for the “remarkable sovereign”; invoking how the “Late Queen would turn our collar up and face the storm”; talk of “British power to the British people”; arguing the Tories are responsible for “redistribution from the poor to the rich” – a highly targeted speech.
This is because there is a clear political strategy behind this approach.
Under the guidance of pollster and strategist Deborah Mattinson, Labour is prioritising winning back a slice of the electorate they call “hero voters” – one-time Labour supporters who backed Brexit and then voted Tory in 2019 but who they think are up for grabs at the next election.
An overt drive by Starmer to stress his patriotism, sense of solidarity and integrity is only one part of Team Starmer’s drive to win back “hero voters”. The other was to hammer the differences between himself and Labour’s Corbyn era.
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The former regime may have played a comparatively tiny role in this year’s conference compared to 2021, yet still Starmer decided the public needs to be reminded.
Again, the repudiation of antisemitism. Again, another standing ovation. A different membership in Liverpool this year, and Starmer attempting to use that to his advantage. The Tories the enemy of the speech, but the Corbyn era an almost equal opponent.
One big announcement at the heart of the speech – the creation of a British state-owned energy company to rival France’s EDF, known as Great British Energy – got a standing ovation.
As he acknowledged, its birth will be tricky, its role in the market yet to be fleshed out – it is more political signal than fully fleshed out change. Whether this idea will stay uppermost in voters’ minds is yet to be seen.
But the other striking thing about the speech was the way he wanted to signal confidence.
By addressing Brexit head-on – which for a long time has unnerved party strategists – attacking the government for failing to “grasp the nettle” and promising to deliver “control” in a way the Tories have failed. This would not have been possible 18 months ago.
A good party conference speech provides verbal weapons for their troops to deploy on doorsteps in the months ahead. Starmer provided his team with options – pretty much for the first time. Let’s see if his flock use them.
World
Myanmar frees more than 6,000 prisoners as country marks anniversary of independence from Britain
More than 6,000 prisoners have been released in Myanmar as part of an amnesty to mark the 77th anniversary of the country’s independence from Britain.
The head of Myanmar’s military government has granted amnesties for 5,864 prisoners from the Southeast Asian country, as well as 180 foreigners who will now be deported, state-run media said.
The freed inmates included just a small proportion of hundreds of political detainees locked up for opposing army rule since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar’s military takeover in February 2021 was met with a huge nonviolent resistance, which has since developed into a widespread armed struggle.
A released prisoner waves after leaving the jail. Pic: AP
The freeing of prisoners began on Saturday and in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, buses took detainees out of the Insein Prison. Many were met by loved ones who eagerly held up signs with their names.
If the freed inmates break the law again, they will have to serve the remainder of their sentences alongside any new ones, the terms of release state.
In another report, MRTV television said government leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has also reduced the life sentences of 144 prisoners to 15 years.
Family members held signs with their loved ones’ names as the buses appeared. Pic: AP
Pic: AP
All other inmates’ sentences have been reduced by one sixth, apart from those convicted under the Explosive Substances Act, the Unlawful Associations Act, the Arms Act and the Counterterrorism Law – all laws which are often used against opponents of military rule.
According to rights organisation the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 28,096 people have been arrested on political charges since the army takeover, and 21,499 of those remained in jail as of Friday.
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Released prisoners are hugged by loved ones and family. Pic: AP
Zaw Min Tun, a spokesperson for the military government, told journalists those released include about 600 people prosecuted under a law which makes it a crime to spread comments that create public unrest or fear, or spread false news.
There has been no suggestion the releases include that of Myanmar’s former leader Suu Kyi, who – now aged 79 – is serving a 27-year sentence after being prosecuted for a number of politically-tinged charges.
Aung San Suu Kyi. File pic: Reuters
Most of the foreigners being freed are Thai people arrested for gambling in a border town, the spokesperson added.
It is not uncommon for Myanmar to mark holidays and significant occasions with prisoner releases.
The country became a British colony in the late 1800s and regained independence on 4 January 1948.
Drive an hour outside China’s commercial capital Shanghai, and you’ll reach Elon Musk’s Tesla gigafactory.
It manufactures almost one million Tesla cars a year and produces more than half of all its cars worldwide.
But with US president-elect Donald Trump preparing to move into the White House, the relationship between his new buddy Elon Musk and the leadership of China‘s Communist Party is in sharp focus.
Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Shanghai has been the key to Tesla’s success, largely thanks to the city’s former Communist Party secretary, now China’s premier, Li Qiang.
Chief executive of Shanghai-based Auto Mobility Limited, Bill Russo, says: “Qiang is China’s number two person. His position in Shanghai made everything possible for Tesla.”
He added: “In 2017, China adjusted its policy guidelines for the automotive industry to allow foreign companies to own their factories in China.
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Musk, Trump and China explained
“Tesla signed its deal in 2018, broke ground in 2019, and started producing the Model 3 in 2020.”
The factory opened at breakneck speak and in record time.
In April, Musk met Qiang in Beijing, later posting on X: “Honoured to meet with Premier Li Qiang. We have known each other now for many years, since early Shanghai days.”
Elon Musk met Chinese premier Li Qiang in Beijing in April 2024. Pic: AP
The Musk-China ties go all the way to the top.
When China’s President Xi Jinping visited the US in November 2023 he met Musk, who posted: “May there be prosperity for all” – echoing the language often used by China’s government.
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Inside a Tesla showroom in Shanghai. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Musk has previously weighed into the debate over the status of Taiwan. Two years ago, he suggested tensions could be eased by giving China some control over Taiwan.
This comment incensed Taiwan’s leaders.
Chinese commentator Einar Tangen, from the Taihe Institute in Beijing, says: “If Musk had said anything else, he could face action against the Shanghai plants. He’s not going to endanger that. He’s playing both sides for his own advantage.”
What’s in it for China?
Musk needs China, and in the months to come, China may need Musk.
He could act as a well-connected middleman between the Chinese Communist Party and Trump, in the face of a potential global trade war.
“Like it or not, we are living in a world where China is the dominant player in the race to an electric future,” says Russo.
Musk pioneered the EV industry in China, but is now struggling to compete with local car brands like BYD and Nio.
Elon Musk’s support helped propel Donald Trump to a second term in the White House. Pic: AP
The relationship between Musk and Trump could become volatile, but for now, Musk stands to benefit.
“Donald Trump has never had a problem giving exceptions to friends,” Tangen says.
“It fits his personality, that he can grant pardons and give favours to the people and companies he chooses.”
Musk ‘the pioneer’
Musk is well regarded as a pioneer in China and most people speak of him highly.
Strolling along the Bund waterfront area in Shanghai, Benton Tang says: “Tesla really impacted the entire industry here.
“It pushed people to develop and improve the quality, the design and especially the price.”
Chinese vehicle manufacturers like BYD provide stiff competition for Tesla. Pic: Lex Ramsay
Interest in the Musk family has also gripped China’s online community.
His mother, Maye Musk, frequently visits the country, where she has a huge social media following as a senior-age celebrity fashion icon and endorses several Chinese products including a mattress brand.
Her book, A Woman Makes A Plan, has been translated into Chinese and is a bestseller here.
Maye Musk. Pic: Reuters
Meanwhile, as the countdown to Trump’s inauguration gains pace, the spotlight on the president-elect’s coterie of advisers intensifies.
In the middle of the glare is Elon Musk.
China waits to see what that will mean for them.
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