Oct 2, 2026 · 49 min · 14 segments
Andy Burnham set out his stall during an emotional speech at the Labour Party conference – pledging to scrap the triple lock, create a national care service, and reform the first-past-the-post voting…
Beth RigbyHost
Ruth DavidsonHost
Harriet HarmanHost
There's something about party conferences that's just a bit odd in that momentum shifts, and it did feel like there was a momentum shift at Labour.
Like, despite the fact you'd won this enormous majority two years ago, like massive, massive majority, at no point did it feel, looking at the Labour Party, that you actually had confidence in yourselves having won.
And it felt to me watching it, that you guys have now got a set of self-confidence and bordering on evangelism, and we can talk about the actual speech from the leader in a bit, that, um, that, that has kind of shifted the dial for how it's going to be for, for MPs trying to explain how the country's being run now.
We're suddenly having our post-electoral euphoria, which we sort of didn't feel confident enough to have.
And I, I was having a conversation with my successor, Miata Fanbulla, who's now the member of Parliament for Peckham, which I represented for, for so many decades.
It's a difficult thing being Prime Minister, but look, he's led us into victory.
There's now 400 Labour MPs." And she was saying, "It's just not gonna work." And I had to g- you know, I had to say to Miata, especially after Andy's speech, you know, "You were right.
I was wrong." I was hoping for the Starmer Project to succeed, and a lot of them were saying, "Look, it's not going to.
The reality is that y- it's not going to." And they were more in touch with the public than I was.
And I think the point is that without Keir Starmer having the confidence of MPs, nobody on the outside, you know, whether they're businesses or whoever, could really have confidence that when they were liaising with the government and when they announced a policy it would actually come to pass.
Because although on paper he had a majority of over 100, he couldn't actually deliver anything with that majority.
And I think now it's absolutely evident that we've got what we thought we got at the general election, which is a stable government with a huge majority which will get on and deliver a program.
Well, I think this is one of those kind of pivotal conferences where stuff happens and it slightly changes the landscape for what comes next.
There's something about party conferences that's just a bit odd in that momentum shifts, and it did feel like there was a momentum shift at Labour.
Like, despite the fact you'd won this enormous majority two years ago, like massive, massive majority, at no point did it feel, looking at the Labour Party, that you actually had confidence in yourselves having won.
And it felt to me watching it, that you guys have now got a set of self-confidence and bordering on evangelism, and we can talk about the actual speech from the leader in a bit, that, um, that, that has kind of shifted the dial for how it's going to be for, for MPs trying to explain how the country's being run now.
We're suddenly having our post-electoral euphoria, which we sort of didn't feel confident enough to have.
And I, I was having a conversation with my successor, Miata Fanbulla, who's now the member of Parliament for Peckham, which I represented for, for so many decades.
It's a difficult thing being Prime Minister, but look, he's led us into victory.
There's now 400 Labour MPs." And she was saying, "It's just not gonna work." And I had to g- you know, I had to say to Miata, especially after Andy's speech, you know, "You were right.
I was wrong." I was hoping for the Starmer Project to succeed, and a lot of them were saying, "Look, it's not going to.
The reality is that y- it's not going to." And they were more in touch with the public than I was.
And I think the point is that without Keir Starmer having the confidence of MPs, nobody on the outside, you know, whether they're businesses or whoever, could really have confidence that when they were liaising with the government and when they announced a policy it would actually come to pass.
Because although on paper he had a majority of over 100, he couldn't actually deliver anything with that majority.
And I think now it's absolutely evident that we've got what we thought we got at the general election, which is a stable government with a huge majority which will get on and deliver a program.
Well, I think this is one of those kind of pivotal conferences where stuff happens and it slightly changes the landscape for what comes next.
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