Sir Keir Starmer’s party conference speech was billed as a reset – a chance to reframe the argument he had been seen to be losing. He lost no time in naming the fight with Nigel Farage and Reform UK as an existential contest between decency and grievance, renewal versus decline. It was Sir Keir’s most impressive political performance: clear, moral and passionate.
Labour’s leader spoke with a confidence previously lacking. His stirring defence of his party as a uniting force in a polarised country rightly drew applause. His stories with a moral attached gave his address a warmth the prime minister rarely displays. Sir Keir’s jibe that Reform is a party that doesn’t like or “believe in Britain” is a clever retort. It didn’t always work. Emphasising Labour as the party of vocational – not university – education is risky when the government is courting tech and pharma companies.
