Labour party

So far at this Labour conference, most of the fireworks have been on the Blairite side of the party, with figures such as Chuka Umunna, Ivan Lewis, Liz Kendall and John Woodcock making their displeasure known at events last night. But when it comes to Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench, and some of the issues on which Corbyn himself has strong and controversial views, the conference has seemed surprisingly well-behaved: so far, at least. The party’s frontbenchers are almost continuing as though nothing has changed: last night at a schools fringe Lucy Powell set out an education policy that sounded roughly familiar to the one the last party leadership pursued: no support

The main halls and speeches at party conferences tend to be the least interesting parts — the words are briefed out to the press in advance, what politicians say is on stage is usually dull and you can watch it all on TV anyway. It’s the fringe events and exhibitions that give a better sense of a party’s mood. Judging by the halls of the Brighton Centre, Jeremy Corbyn has certainly had an impact on the whole party (click on the pictures to enlarge). Wandering through the exhibition halls, I was struck just how many trade unions are present have big flashy stands. Unite the Union has is easily the most

Jeremy Corbyn knows he has a lot to prove at his party’s conference, which starts on Sunday. The highlight of his leadership so far has been his new tone at PMQs, which did catch attention, even if the questions he asked rather turned the session into an opportunity for David Cameron to look Prime Ministerial. The Labour leader knows he needs to make changes from that first attempt (his first ever stint at the dispatch box), but he’s not the only one mulling how to manage the session. A number of Tory MPs have told me that they have received a good load of letters and emails since that PMQs

Jon Cruddas’ speech warning that Labour is lost in England has attracted plenty of attention for that line alone. But there was another section that is worth taking note of, given the former party policy chief is keen to play such a big role in rebuilding Labour after its febrile summer. Cruddas also spoke about Labour’s challenge on Europe, arguing most significantly that the party should support two categories of EU membership and take a stronger position on the renegotiation. He said: ‘We need to strengthen our pro-European politics with a clear position. We should recognise the reservations many of our citizens have about giving up our sovereignty to Brussels

Emily Thornberry has only just made it back onto the frontbench after she had to resign from the shadow cabinet over a tweet she sent of a photo of a house covered with St George flags during the Rochester and Strood by-election. However, despite discovering the dangers of Twitter first hand, the Labour MP has not been put off using it to share her more risqué thoughts. Following yesterday’s #piggate scandal involving David Cameron, Thornberry has tweeted a photo of some curiously titled cured meat, along with a pig emoticon: With many users on Twitter taking it to be a dig at the Prime Minister over the unconfirmed claim he once

With the Downing Street press office declining to comment today on allegations from Lord Ashcroft involving the Prime Minister and a dead pig, Labour has also stayed quiet over the claims. However, members of the Labour press office were unable to resist ignoring the alleged incident completely, with press officers giving out sweets to hard-working lobby journalists. The choice of candy? Percy Pigs, of course.