If you listened only to Keir Starmer and his team of ministers, you might come away with the impression that this year’s party conference was a total win for the party. According to the cabinet and loyalist MPs, over the course of the week the government managed to change the narrative and restore optimism.
Today’s vote by members to reverse the cut to the winter fuel payment complicates this otherwise nice line. On the final day of proceedings, when many delegates, journalists and even the prime minister himself had dispersed from Liverpool’s ACC, this highly anticipated motion and its subsequent loss is a sure sign that Downing Street has still somehow underestimated how politically salient the row is. That they failed to anticipate how much the decision would cut through with the general public is one thing, that they have misread their own members is more worrying.
This non-binding vote was brought by two unions – Unite and the Communications Workers Union – to loud applause from across the conference floor. It was originally scheduled to take place on Monday but was subsequently moved to the end of the Wednesday’s proceedings, leaving both unions hurling furious claims that they were being silenced. Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, opened the debate. She slammed the prime minister for targeting working people “while leaving the super-rich untouched”.
But members are not alone in their anger at the government. One veteran MP told the New Statesman they believed it to be “ridiculous”, shaking their head in disappointment at the government’s decision to do this shortly ahead of another winter in which energy prices are expected to rise. Others have expressed their support of the result of this afternoon’s vote. Shortly after the motion was passed, Liverpool MP, Ian Byrne posted on X: “I voted against this cut in parliament and I am pleased that conference supports my decision. The govt should withdraw this plan.”
This rage from members, unions and back bench MPs is wholly at odds with the narrative of unity, honesty, and responsibility that government ministers and loyalist MPs have spent four days trying to present. Speaking to the New Statesman on Tuesday ahead of Starmer’s speech, housing minister Baroness Sharon Taylor described the conference as an “uplifting experience”, and said that with Starmer, the UK has a prime minister who is “absolutely focused on having a government that is there to serve for the country.” She added: “Optimism is the order of the day here.”
Newly elected MP, Henry Tufnell agreed. “I feel incredibly optimistic,” he told the New Statesman on Tuesday, “the only people who are being negative are you [the press]. It’s all of this doomsday from the media.” Tufnell added: “we’ve got a mandate from the public. We’ve got a clear idea of where we’re going.” Baroness Taylor also nodded to media coverage, when asked whether she thought Labour’s optimism would cut through to the public. “I think a lot of that depends on you guys,” she told the New Statesman.
Blaming negative media coverage and ramping up positive comms can only go so far now that genuine grassroots opposition to the cut has been evidenced by today’s vote. Perhaps amid continued stories about ministers’ acceptance of luxury gifts – which one cabinet member told the New Statesman has been ramped up by press coverage – the government has forgotten that genuine public fury exists over the winter fuel payment cut. For a government less than 100 days into its premiership, this disconnect between how government decisions are viewed by its key operators and how they are viewed by Labour members should be worrying. If left unattended, this gap in perception could become cavernous.
[See also: Ed Miliband: “We need to move fast and build things”]
Content from our partners
Related
