London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 04, 2025

‘No strategy, programme or project’: Labour divided ahead of conference

‘No strategy, programme or project’: Labour divided ahead of conference

Keir Starmer is hoping his first in-person conference speech can unite party but he faces uphill task

Keir Starmer will be packing the laptop as well as the buckets and spades as he heads off to Devon for a family break later this month: aides say he plans to use the holiday to work on a first draft of his party conference speech.

It will be the Labour leader’s first address to the party faithful in person – last year’s was delivered online from an empty arts centre in Doncaster – and both fans and detractors agree it will have to be the speech of his life.

Some believe it will be something of an “autumn relaunch” to convince the public that Labour is serious about winning power, although the party says it is more about Starmer being able to set out his vision properly after the disruption of Covid.

But that phrase may set alarm bells ringing for those in the party who remember the days of Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Miliband attempting to reinvigorate their leaderships – providing an acknowledgement that Starmer’s stewardship is still beset by challenges, both political and practical.

Backbench MPs and some shadow cabinet members continue to gripe that they do not know what Starmer really stands for, or what his political project is. Meanwhile, he is laying off 90 staff in an effort to repair the party’s tattered finances, and has lost or removed almost all of the tight-knit group of longstanding aides who came with him from the backbenches into the leader’s office.

The most recent departure is Chris Ward, Starmer’s deputy chief of staff, who had worked with him since he first became an MP in 2015, wrote his speeches throughout, and prepped him for prime minister’s questions.

Some stalwarts remain, including the policy chief, Claire Ainsley. But the breakup of the “gang of five”, as disgruntled backbenchers called his most powerful aides, has only intensified the sense of mystery among some colleagues about what makes the Labour leader tick.

And as ever in the Labour party of recent years, internecine divisions are never far below the surface.

A slew of announcements on workers’ rights last week have helped to reassure some on the Labour left who feared Starmer planned to ditch Corbyn’s radical 2019 manifesto wholesale, after appearing to endorse much of it during his leadership campaign.

But the Corbynite campaign group Momentum and Labour’s biggest donor, the Unite trade union, have criticised the decision to proscribe four leftwing Labour groups, meaning their members are automatically thrown out of the party.

Jeremy Corbyn at a Momentum rally in 2017.


Starmer’s team say banning small but vocal groups including Labour Against the Witchhunt followed from his determination to root out antisemitism. But Unite called it “political machismo” and Momentum claimed it feared one day also being proscribed.

One party source blamed the clearout on “factionalists” in the leader’s office, rather than Starmer, who has repeatedly underlined his determination to seek party unity.

Meanwhile, without the draw of an impending leadership race or general election, party membership has declined by 120,000 from its peak under Corbyn, to 430,000. “They’re leaving in droves,” claimed one senior party figure from the Corbyn era. “There’s no organising going on in any constituencies. There’s no strategy, or programme, or project.”

Labour insiders will be watching intently when the result of the ballot for Unite general secretary is announced on 26 August. The frontrunner, Steve Turner, has been pressing Starmer to stick to the Corbynite agenda, while the moderate challenger Gerard Coyne has said the union under his leadership would no longer be the “backseat driver of the Labour party”.

Meanwhile, before his family break, Starmer has been continuing his tour around the UK, meeting voters and setting out Labour’s stall. He has sharpened his criticism of Boris Johnson, using a Guardian article to accuse him of being “missing in action” on the climate crisis and risking failure at the vital UN Cop26 talks due to be held in Scotland.

Speaking to the FT, he vowed to “turn the Labour party inside out”, urging activists to embrace Tony Blair’s political legacy to help the UK’s main opposition party win the next election.

As well as workers’ rights, crime is another policy area where Labour hopes to land some punches on Johnson, after years of cuts to public services and the criminal justice system.

A third is the economy, where the shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will become increasingly prominent as the party tries to build up its reputation for competence. Since taking on the post in May’s fraught reshuffle, she has launched a “buy British” campaign that would mean a Labour government using its procurement muscle to support domestic businesses.

Reeves’s promotion was one of the few changes in what multiple party sources claim was initially envisaged as a wider reshuffle, following the local elections in May.

Moves were slated for figures including Lisa Nandy, who at one point threatened to resign altogether, over a rocky weekend, as Angela Rayner believed she was being made the scapegoat for the loss of the Hartlepool byelection.

Starmer then faced a tumultuous eight weeks, with some MPs touting potential leadership challengers, before the parliamentary labour party (PLP) was cheered by the victory of Kim Leadbeater, the sister of the murdered MP Jo Cox, in Batley and Spen.

Starmer loyalists in the shadow cabinet see reason for optimism as they head off on their own summer breaks.

Johnson’s “vaccine bounce” in the polls appears to be fading, and Starmer has beefed up his inner team after the departure of the “Camden set” with a series of experienced new hires, including the chief of staff, Sam White, a former aide to Alistair Darling.

There is also a perception that the new elections coordinator, Shabana Mahmood, and her deputy, Conor McGinn, have sharpened up Labour’s attacks on the Tories.

“It’s about bringing a level of brutality,” said one frontbencher, adding: “I think it’s pretty clear that the shake-up of the back room has made a difference.”

Recent polls have also given Labour cause for hope, with the Conservatives’ lead over the party narrowing from double digits.

Starmer’s team say they are well aware of the electoral mountain they have to climb, but are picking up hints in focus groups and polls of voters starting to have qualms about the Tory government.

“The public are not starting to change their view of Boris Johnson, particularly, but they do worry about the competence of the government, and they do worry about whether he’s up to the job,” said a Labour source.

They believe the charge of hypocrisy – summed up as “one rule for them, another for the rest of us” – is one they can continue to hammer home, helped by Matt Hancock’s lockdown-busting affair, the omnipresence of Dominic Cummings, and the drip, drip of procurement scandals.

Some backbenchers believe Starmer would need not just a solid party conference but a miraculous one to win over waverers.

One soft left Labour MP said colleagues were “just so resigned to the fact that he’s a dud”. They compared the mood in the PLP to the darkest days of Corbyn’s leadership, adding that many MPs were reluctant even to go to Brighton in September.

“It’s going to have to be the speech of his life,” the MP said. “He’s going to have to say to people: ‘I know you don’t think I’m up to it, but I am: and here’s why.’”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
Investigations Reveal Rise in ‘Sex-for-Rent’ Listings Across Canada Exploiting Vulnerable Tenants
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
×