10.17am EDT
10:17
Angela Rayner is now opening the conference. She walked onto the stage to She Bangs The Drums by The Stone Roses.
(@LabourNorthWest)
#Lab21 kicks off in style with our very own @AngelaRayner speaking passionately about how Labour will change the future of work giving people rights and dignity from day one. pic.twitter.com/u9TyyO3Tmr
Updated
at 10.19am EDT
10.07am EDT
10:07
(@AngelaRayner)
I quite like being underestimated because then I can just prove them wrong.
Ahead of my speech opening Labour conference tomorrow I spoke to @thetimes about how my early life shaped who I am, my politics and who I am here to represent and fight for.https://t.co/RZOjz3f2rP
9.45am EDT
09:45
The Labour MP for Hove, Peter Kyle, has opened conference by telling delegates about the need to convince Conservative voters to back the party. He stressed the importance of making residents’ priorities those of Labour, adding:
Listening to Tories doesn’t make you a Tory, it helps you beat them.
9.44am EDT
09:44
Watered-down Labour reforms will put party in better position, says Starmer
Keir Starmer‘s watered-down set of Labour reforms will be put to the party’s conference after he was forced to ditch a major shake-up of the leadership election process, the PA News Agency reports.
Opposition from the unions and Labour’s left to proposals which would have dramatically increased MPs’ influence in the election of a new leader have been a blow to Starmer – a revised set of plans has now been agreed by the party’s ruling National Executive Committee and will be put to the conference.
Starmer said:
I’m very pleased these party reforms have got the backing of our NEC. These proposals put us in a better position to win the next general election and I hope constituency and trade union delegates will support them when they come to conference floor.
Under the original proposal, the one member, one vote (OMOV) system would have been replaced with a return to the electoral college made up of the unions and affiliate organisations, MPs and party members – each with an equal share.
Those plans were abandoned, although the revised proposals still amount to a significant shake-up and will face opposition from the left.
The package includes requiring candidates for leadership elections to have the support of 20% of MPs, up from the current 10% – Starmer had been understood to be pushing for 25%.
The Labour leader also wants members to have been signed up for six months to be allowed to vote in a future leadership contest and the “registered supporters” scheme which allowed people to pay 25 to vote in the 2020 contest would be dropped.
He also wants to make it more difficult to deselect MPs by raising the threshold for triggering a selection contest, with 50% of local branches in the Constituency Labour Party (CLP) and affiliated union and socialist groups needing to back such a move.
The amount of policy motions considered at the party’s conference would also be reduced.
Starmer sought to put the row behind him as he arrived in Brighton for his first chance to address an in-person party conference as leader.
In a statement, left-wing campaign group Momentum vowed to fight against the fresh proposals. Mish Rahman, a senior Momentum figure on Labour’s NEC said:
Changing the threshold like this will destroy the right of ordinary people to shape the future of the party. If this rule change passes, Labour will be well on its way to becoming the party of the Westminster elite. If the 20% threshold applied to the 2020 leadership election it would have been a contest between Sir Keir Starmer QC and Sir Keir Starmer QC.
The reforms are unlikely to be the only controversial issue debated by delegates on the south coast as the afternoon unfolds.
9.30am EDT
09:30
Since he took over in the early days of the coronavirus lockdown, all has not been well within the Labour party, and Keir Starmer is facing a conference week that many deem crucial to the future of his leadership.
In case you missed it, here is yesterday’s Today in Focus episode with the Guardian’s deputy political editor, Jess Elgot, explaining how, with the Tories already gearing up for a general election that could be announced within the next 18 months, Starmer is running out of time to make his case to the country.
There have been bitter divisions over proposed changes to the rules governing future leadership contests, and the party also finds itself in dire financial circumstances with officials at risk of redundancy and strike ballots looming. Then there are divisions over Labour’s policy offering and splits over issues such as trans rights. Meanwhile, waiting in the wings are potential challengers to Starmer, notably in the shape of his deputy leader, Angela Rayner, and the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham.
You can listen to the episode here.
9.26am EDT
09:26
The Labour party meets this afternoon in Brighton for its first in-person annual conference since Keir Starmer won the leadership.
By the time the Labour leader arrived in Brighton, insisting the conference would be a chance to “set out our vision for the future”, he had already suffered a humiliating start to the day after being forced to water down proposals to the party’s leadership rules, ditching plans to return to the electoral college after resistance from party members and trade unions.
A revised set of plans, which is yet to be agreed by all trade unions, has now been put to the party’s ruling National Executive Committee.
My colleagues Jessica Elgot and Heather Stewart have the story:
Starmer sought to put the row behind him as he arrived in Brighton for his first chance to address an in-person party conference as leader. He said:
We’re all really, really looking forward to this, our first chance to speak to the party in person and set out our vision for the future.
We’re obviously in a crucial time for the country and this government is letting people down so badly, whether it is hammering working people on tax and Universal Credit, whether it is shortages of food and fuel.
Deputy leader, Angela Rayner, who is the shadow secretary of state for the future of work as well as Starmer’s number two, has privately made clear that she would like the conference to focus instead on attacking the government and setting out Labour’s offer to the country.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme it was her understanding that the electoral college plan would not be discussed at the NEC meeting, so would not be voted on by delegates at the party conference this weekend.
Other conference flash points for Starmer could include rows over Labour’s position on trans rights, commitments on tackling climate change and changes mandated by the Equality and Human Rights Commission after its investigation into anti-Semitism.
The conference is a significant moment for Starmer’s leadership, with pressure certain to mount if he fails to make a major impression on the public.
I will be bringing you updates from the conference throughout the afternoon. If you would like to get in touch, you can find me on Twitter @lucy_campbell_ or via email at lucy.campbell@theguardian.com.
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