Overview
- Downing Street released advance excerpts casting a choice between “decency and renewal” and “division and resentment,” with Keir Starmer warning the road ahead will be long and difficult.
- At the Liverpool conference, he attacked Nigel Farage’s agenda as racist, paired patriotic messaging with tougher migration pledges, and urged delegates to back his plan to “Renew Britain.”
- Starmer’s approval stands at 13% in a new Ipsos reading, the lowest for a UK prime minister since 1977, as Reform UK tops national polling despite holding only five seats and eyes major local elections in May.
- Policy moves from the past 15 months—including a family benefit cap, a tighter immigration overhaul, and proscribing Palestine Action—have fueled unease inside Labour.
- Leadership speculation is openly discussed on the conference floor, with Manchester mayor Andy Burnham frequently cited, even as Starmer stresses fiscal restraint, promises more investment beyond London, and wins a standing ovation.