Jeremy Corbyn has just brought down the curtain on the Labour conference. He earned a standing ovation at the end, but what did those filing out – including MPs who have spoken out against Corbyn in the past – really make of what Corbyn had to say? Coffee House caught up with delegates to hear their thoughts:
Unsurprisingly, many of those leaving the hall were singing Corbyn’s praises. Labour MP Richard Burgon went as far as saying it was the best speech Jeremy has given as Labour leader:
‘You saw in there how enthused people in the hall are but I also think the message in there and the policies in there can enthuse people right around the country too. I think this is the start of something big’
But Stephen Kinnock said Corbyn still needed to do more to reach out. He said:
‘We’ve been through a turbulent summer. I think there is something to really build on but to build in unity, all sides have to compromise. That means Jeremy has got to reach out to the parliamentary labour party, (and) we’ve got to be ready to work together to hold this government to account.’
While former Labour party advisor John McTernan thought that Corbyn’s reference to the Iraq war was a step too far. He told Coffee House:
‘It’s grandstanding. He had a film before the speech claiming the credit for all the good things Tony did. (Mentioning the Iraq war like that) was just a deliberately divisive attempt. (And) saying the current shadow cabinet is the future is not an olive branch.’
But reformed Corbyn critic Chuka Ummuna had some words of praise for his leader:
Union firebrand Len McCluskey vowed to do his best to tone down some of his rhetoric in the wake of Corbyn’s call for unity. But on the actual speech, the Unite boss was clear about one thing; it was ‘absolutely first class’, he said:
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner, who was name checked by Corbyn, thought the speech was ‘amazing’:
Clive Lewis said Corbyn ‘nailed it’. Asked to sum up the speech in one word, he said the Labour leader’s address was ‘awesome’:
And Andy Burnham, who announced he was leaving the shadow cabinet today, had this to say:
‘I thought it was a strong speech, a confident performance. If you look at the meat of it, you’d be hard pressed to find many people who would disagree with it.’
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