There was little pressure on Keir Starmer to perform in his speech today. The past three days at the Labour conference have been controversy-free. Message discipline has been tight. Most voters are focused on the conflict in Israel. The chaos at the Conservative conference in Manchester last week set the bar low. But this is Starmer’s Labour Party and people wanted to hear him speak. Queues ran down both sides of the exhibition hall and out the room beforehand. Stewards herded the pliant crowd as if we were hurriedly boarding a cruise – or a lifeboat. Phone signal crashed.
As we waited, Keir’s university friend told us he was a “regular” guy on the rectangular screen overhead. A photo album followed: Keir and Bridget Phillipson at the seaside; the shadow cabinet walking in suits; Keir saying happy birthday to the NHS; Keir with Rupert on his farm in Solihull; Keir in Scotland; several former Tory voters saying that they now like Keir.
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