Quote of the day
“My parents would never have believed that their skinny son in NHS prescription glasses who got stopped and searched on the streets of Tottenham would have ended up as shadow foreign secretary.” David Lammy in his speech to the conference.
Tweet of the day
Two years ago I came to a conference and said that we have a mountain to climb. We’re now at the top of that mountain looking outwards.
— Lisa Nandy (@lisanandy) September 27, 2022
And we’re ready to finish the job started by the last @UKLabour government.#LabourConference2022 @guardian https://t.co/y371OoLYtn
Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, epitomising how Labour’s frontbench has stayed resolutely onside throughout conference.
Debate of the day
In keeping with the public harmony of this year’s gathering, the debate was less of a debate than an affirmation. Labour are very keen on green energy and insulation, which formed perhaps the biggest single policy area of Keir Starmer’s speech. Capping this was the announcement of Great British Energy, in effect a state-owned green power generation startup.
The day in a picture
A party leader and their spouse is a conference visual cliche, but like much about leaders’ speeches, it is traditional and expected.
Row of the day
The first notable row of the conference, and even then more of a controversy than an actual disagreement: Rupa Huq, the MP for Ealing in west London, has had the Labour whip suspended – and has apologised – after describing the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, as only “superficially” black during a fringe meeting.
Wednesday’s highlights
In normal years, Wednesday morning is time for the leader’s speech. But with Starmer shifted to Tuesday, those on the final day risk less attention, and perhaps an emptier hall. But those who remain will have a closing address from Angela Rayner, preceded by a mystery “international speaker”, previewed only as an opposition leader from an autocratic European country. Europe does not have many of these, so it could well be Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya of Belarus.
