Labour Party

Socialist Campaign Group MPs and union leaders hailed the prime minister’s conference speech as a win for the left – but warned his words on ending neoliberalism must now become action.

From Andy Burnham’s first leader’s speech to a fringe fight over rent controls he used to champion himself, here’s what actually matters at Labour’s conference this week.

Three months into his premiership, Andy Burnham’s cost-of-living wins amount to a few pounds a week – while the policy he once championed loudest, rent controls, has been ruled out by his own government. The party’s Liverpool conference is where that gap gets harder to ignore.

Weeks before voters in Keir Starmer’s old seat go to the polls, a senior Labour left-winger says the party still hasn’t faced up to what went wrong under his leadership.

The Green Party leader’s bid for Holborn and St Pancras could become the first real verdict on whether Andy Burnham’s early poll bounce survives contact with actual voters.

A month into his premiership, Andy Burnham has ditched Starmer’s stiffness for smiles and popular policies. But on tax, spending and devolution, he’s still playing by rules written to keep markets and donors onside.

Alison Phillips, who oversaw ThinkLabour’s rebrand from the disgraced Labour Together, is Andy Burnham’s new deputy chief of staff – the latest sign that Morgan McSweeney’s old faction still holds sway in Downing Street, despite the prime minister’s promises to govern beyond factional lines.

The Institute of Employment Rights says the 2025 act falls well short of Labour’s own promises. With Jonathan Reynolds back as business secretary, unions are already demanding a second bill.

Will McMahon unpacks Andy Burnham’s leadership acceptance speech, finding a warmer voice and a sharper critique of four decades of Thatcherism and globalisation – undercut by a pledge to be “a pro-business leader” that leaves the real distribution of power untouched.