Labour Party Conference 2024: A missed moment to tell a story of success and opportunity

So we’ve just been at Labour Party conference and we’re on the train back, thinking about our main takeaways.

David: I’ll kick us off…

I guess the keyword for me is probably disappointment. I expected to come away with a sense of where the Government is headed. In particular, how it will use its policy agenda to shape life for the British public over the next decade. Don’t get me wrong, there were some clear messages: mission-driven Government, emphasis on a commitment to public service, and the echoing of policies already announced e.g. the set up of GB energy. However, these points felt more of an assortment of intentions and values (all fine and good things), than a coherent vision for the country.

I won’t be the only person suggesting that the conference, and the Prime Minister’s speech, failed to convey a story of Britain’s future, much less a compelling one. But I think there’s a reason for this. Aside from being early into Government, Keir Starmer is really strong on communicating his values and the actions that connect to them. He’s much weaker on connecting those same actions to the outcomes they will produce for people. I think people want to hear that they will have more money in their pocket, shorter waiting times for NHS services and other such common sense day-to-day improvements. And I also think the Government has these ambitions.

Paradoxically, the government’s mission-driven approach could make delivering these improvements easier to achieve while at the same time make it harder to communicate about them. Delivery based on missions requires layers of corporate management structure and language to connect the missions to outcomes through hundreds of objectives, KPIs, critical paths and necessary actions. For example, if you want to explain how to “grow the economy” and what it means, you refer to things like industrial policy, skills shortages and infrastructure investment. You don’t immediately jump to more jobs for Brits and increased purchasing power in our economy. These layers of corporate structure and language serve both to provide clarity on what Government needs to do and how to do it, while subtracting clarity in communicating the impact voters can expect from them. 

I think we’re all very familiar with the Government’s message about the £22bn fiscal black hole, but it felt like conference had a black hole of its very own - how Keir Starmer and his Government are going to improve the lives of the people they represent.

I realise I sound all a bit doom and gloom - but it was also a very entertaining conference with plenty of insight from the think tanks, delegates, and politicians assembled. And hell at 2am, pint in hand, I thought maybe some insight from me too.

What did you think about it all?

Jason:

You’re pretty tough on them there. I suppose they have only just come into government and as someone in one of the events highlighted, for the bulk of the time they have been in government, most of the MPs have actually been on holiday. I was also keeping in mind just how much they have achieved so far and we were constantly reminded that change has only just begun.

To say there was a black hole at the heart of conference is probably a bit strong, but I agree that something was definitely missing. The mood was a little tense, as if most of the participants don’t quite know how to act at the first Labour conference in fifteen years where the Party on display is actually in government. It felt like most of the speakers and delegates were unsure of the tone and of themselves. That feeling was only compounded when we heard that Secretaries of State had been pulled off panels in fear of saying too much - so maybe it’s really no wonder we feel like not enough was said.

I was also struck by the sheer lack of jubilance. There was none of the celebratory mood that you might have expected from the government that has just won a sizeable majority of the kind the Party could only have dreamt of five years ago.

Maybe that lack of celebratory self-confidence was an intentional move from a government trying to manage the expectations raised by a majority of over one hundred seats. If it was intentional however, I think it was a mistake. This was the first chance for the Party to set out its stall and declare victory.  By continuing the cautiousness we saw in the Party’s election campaign, it missed that moment.

What did you think of Starmer’s speech?  

David:

I get the impression that Starmer is uncomfortable attempting to give a barn-storming speech, so he didn’t give us one. But what he said touched on a lot of the areas where Government needs to do better: clean, renewable energy, achieving growth, focussing on delivering for people and not (just) his own party. His thoughtful and comprehensive review of politics and progress struck me as a welcome and far cry from the last Government, or “Tory rot” as he described it. Even though I feel there was an opportunity missed to really set out how life is going to change for the average Brit, I certainly got the impression that for one thing, we have a Government ready to act with maturity and focus… even if it wasn’t all too easy to discern what exactly we should be hopeful about.

What did you make of it?

Jason:

I largely agree, it felt like a speech he could have given a couple of years ago, but like conference, something was missing. It was classic Starmer, managerial in tone and dry in delivery. Some parts were clunky and others cringe - the reference to his penchant for the music of Shostakovich didn’t exactly dispel the perception as a detached London elite. I thought he was most forthright and convincing in his forceful rebuttal of the far-right riots over the summer. But it was nestled awkwardly within a speech that kicked off with a forced series of ‘thank yous’ to Conference at the beginning, under-whelming pledges and a slightly deflated feeling at the end. Some space was devoted to accomplishments so far, but too little pride was taken in work already begun.  

However, if you simply mock Starmer’s boringness as an Achilles heel, you miss the potency of the political challenge behind it. When Starmer fails to deliver substance or style and only gives us seriousness, the vacuum gets filled with stories of designer suits and Arsenal tickets - and people miss the real achievement taking place.

Moving an audience was never Starmer’s skillset and it’s hard to see after so long in charge how he can turn it around. Perhaps the key to his communication with constituents, will be in demonstrating who he is at his best - a serious man for serious times. Not an electrifying performer, but as a competent and responsible leader who can deliver big things. But first, he needs to let us know what those things are. 

David:

I guess what we’re saying is the values were really clear and we came away with the feeling that the right people are in charge. The adults are back in the room but we don’t quite know what their work will achieve for ordinary people. And I think that’s okay, there is a real sense that things are different and this mission-driven Government has the intention and capability to deliver real change… even if they haven’t been so good at communicating it.

Sláinte,

Jason Bunting | David Gordon

This is only the start of the journey, for both this Labour Government and Sláinte. We will be following up with the latest politics in two weeks.