Party conferences are never short of hyperbole. Whether it’s on the conference floor or the late night bar, impromptu speeches and after dinner speeches are often peppered with the kind of comments which come back to haunt a political party as their fortunes change for the worse. And while this year’s Labour jamboree is only a few hours’ old, it seems we may already have our quote of the conference. Congratulations to Darren Jones, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, for issuing this challenge to fellow delegates when he addressed them earlier today:
I want our Labour Party to become the natural party of government. A title the Conservative party claimed for years, but we can take it from them. We have the chance to prove that we are the changemakers. That our changed Labour Party can be trusted to govern. Not just for one or two terms, but three, four and five.
Twenty-five years in power? Perhaps they ought to try making it to twenty-five weeks first. Mr S is never one to mock ambition but even Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have only ever talked a ‘decade of renewal’ – suggesting two terms would be their limit. Perhaps after the pre-Budget spending round next month, Darren Jones might consider his conference challenge to be a little bit optimistic…
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