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LIVERPOOL: A pep-talk from Australian leader Anthony Albanese kick-started UK Labour’s annual conference on Sunday, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer struggling to convince nervous members that he can lead the “fight of our lives” against the insurgent hard-right.
Although the ex-lawyer led Labour back to power in July last year after 14 years in opposition, scandals, policy missteps, and plummeting poll ratings have already raised doubts about his future.
The four-day gathering in Liverpool, northwest England, comes amid chatter about a possible leadership challenge and follows two recent high-profile departures from government in the wake of embarrassing revelations.
The conference, which concludes on Wednesday, is taking place with Labour lagging well behind the upstart anti-immigrant Reform UK party, led by anti-EU firebrand Nigel Farage, in national surveys.
Going into the conference, Labour trailed Reform by 12 points, while Starmer’s satisfaction ratings hit the lowest recorded by Ipsos for any prime minister since 1977.
Starmer said on Sunday that the party had “got the fight of our lives ahead of us.”
“We’ve got to take on Reform, we’ve got to beat them. The effects will be there for generations,” he told the BBC.
He also called Reform’s plan to make migrants reapply for new visas with tougher rules “racist,” adding it would “tear our country apart.”
Despite some success on the international stage in helping coordinate European support for Ukraine, Starmer has endured a largely disappointing first 14 months domestically as prime minister.
Britain’s sluggish economy means a tax-raising budget is reportedly looming, while Starmer has U-turned on welfare reforms and scrapping energy benefits for millions of pensioners following anger among Labour’s left-wing base.
Meanwhile, small boat crossings to England of undocumented migrants are at record levels, fueling support for Reform.
Starmer’s attempts to reboot his government earlier in September were quickly overshadowed by Angela Rayner’s resignation as deputy prime minister for underpaying property tax.
Starmer then sacked Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador in Washington over his friendship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with the row raising questions about his judgment.
“His leadership is in crisis, really,” said political scientist Steven Fielding. “And the conference isn’t really going to resolve that. It’ll give people occasion to air their discontent with Starmer,” he said.
Australian leader Albanese offered words of support for his “friend” in one of the conference’s first speeches.
“Being a party of government means grappling with uncertainty and complexity. .., it means making, and yes, owning tough decisions,” he told members.
“But friends, we wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re better for all of that, because in the end, the hard road is the only one that takes us anywhere,” he added, taking a swipe at “the low politics of fear and resentment.”
Seeking to follow Albanese’s example, Starmer will aim to spark a turnaround in his fortunes when he delivers the keynote speech at the gathering on Tuesday.
“The conference is a pivotal moment because it’s an opportunity for him to lay out a clear vision of where he is taking the country,” said Patrick Diamond, politics professor at Queen Mary, University of London.
He is expected to pitch the next general election, due in 2029, as a straight fight between Labour and Reform, saying the choice is between “patriotic renewal” and “toxic division.”
Regional mayor Andy Burnham has called on Starmer to put forward a more leftist vision for Labour, claiming in interviews this week that lawmakers have been urging him to run for leader.
Burnham would first have to find a way to get elected to parliament, and 80 MPs would then have to nominate him to trigger a contest, meaning Starmer is unlikely to face a challenge soon.
The Gaza conflict is also likely to burst onto the agenda with demonstrations planned by pro-Palestinian groups in Liverpool over the weekend.