A new PM with a different way of politics - what can we expect from the Labour Party Conference 2026?
Since taking office in July, Andy Burnham has made some bold promises and told Britain he will do politics differently - his efforts haven’t gone unnoticed and has pushed labour back up the popularity scales. But now, he faces his biggest test as Prime Minister to date - convincing his Labour colleagues, and the British people, that he is the right man to lead the country into the future.
Like last year, the Labour conference is being hosted in Liverpool, but unlike last year, there is a new leader, one that faces big political challenges. Speaking outside the venue on Saturday morning, Andy Burnham said that he “loves coming to Liverpool on a Saturday” but that it was normally to support the blues. He said that we will all be “supporting the reds” during the days the conference will be taking place.
However, it’s going to take more than a few jokes to convince Britain that he is the man for the job.
Andy Burnham is riding off the back of one of Labour's greatest election victories, only to have their leader ousted not even half way through his premiership. The pressure will surely be on for the PM to get this right.
Polling does show that Andy Burnham has been popular with members and the British public - but now this conference will be about cementing their views with real policies and explanations as to how he will deliver the pledges he has made.
The PM has made some quite significant pledges: ending rough sleeping, the £2 bus fare cap, 20% cut on business rates for clubs, pubs and live music venues, the biggest council housing scheme since the cold war, £210m to regenerate the UK’s high streets and perhaps his biggest commitment of all, reforming social care.
All these sounds like what the country would want to see, but the question remains, how will this be funded?
Speaking this morning to the BBC’s Laura Kuensberg, the PM expanded more on his plans to reform social care. He said that he will launch the National Care System (NCS) and that it will be “a system that works on NHS principles”. This would mean that it is free at the point of use, but he did confirm it wouldn’t necessarily be funded the same way as the NHS. The PM says it will be a system where “everyone contributes”, just not the same way they do for the NHS.
He confirmed that these are the plans he will fight the next General Election on. These plans will be put forward to the public at the next election, with a “precise explanation” as to how it will work and how it will be funded.
We are expecting to find out more details about this plan, along with his other commitments at his debut speech on Tuesday.
And that really was the theme of the media interviews in the week leading to this event.
But this isn’t the only issue Andy Burnham is facing.
The PM is also dealing with a by-election in his predecessors’ constituency Holborn and St Pancreas after it was confirmed after the summer recess that Sir Keir Starmer is stepping down as an MP. In what is traditionally a safe Labour seat since 1983, it wouldn’t be a good result for Andy Burnham's government if he was to lose this Labour stronghold.
The by-election is due to take place on the 8th October, just over a week after the Labour Party conference.
It will be all eyes to Andy Burnham's debut speech on Tuesday to get an understanding of the direction he wishes to steer the country in. He says nobody will be left in any doubt as to what he “is trying to do in this role”.
So, with the slogan for this year being “Hope again”, no chance of an early general election, new policies due to be announced, and a new face on all the merchandise, we can expect a Labour conference of clarity and understanding of how our 7th PM in 10 years operates.
Big questions need answering, and hope needs to be restored in British politics. What Labour members will be interested in is, is Andy Burnham the right man for this tremendous task, and is he the right person to lead labour to another landslide victory?
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