5 Issues Keir Starmer Will Be Dreading When He Faces Labour Members At Party Conference

Keir Starmer is unlikely to be looking forward to this year’s Labour party conference in Liverpool.

As he and his top team have been hunkering down over the last few days to prepare for the prime minister’s speech on Tuesday, they’ll probably be wondering just how to address all of the problems this government has faced – while still, somehow, striking a note of optimism.

Insiders told HuffPost UK that they see conference as a means to start again for the government – but there are several obstacles which Starmer will find rather tricky to navigate over the four-day Liverpool event.

As the PM prepares to come face-to-face with the party faithful, here’s what you need to know.

1. Leadership challenge from Andy Burnham

The Labour mayor of Greater Manchester has tried to steal the spotlight in the days leading up to the annual gathering.

He claims MPs within the party have encouraged him to run for the top job, accused Downing Street of creating a “climate of fear” and claimed “wholesale change” was needed to see off an “existential” threat to the party.

While this painfully obvious challenge to Starmer’s leadership has also caused frustration among some Labour MPs, Burnham’s intervention is not exactly ideal days before he tries to rally disillusioned party members at conference.

2. Calls for the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap 

Labour chose to keep this controversial Tory policy shortly after being elected last July, even after seven of the party’s own backbenchers broke the whip to vote against it.

The policy prevents families from claiming extra benefits on any children born after the second, and opponents want it dropped to help bring down child poverty.

And more than a year later, backbenchers continue to rally against Labour’s cost-cutting decision to keep the cap in place.

As Labour MP Clive Efford told Times Radio on Wednesday: “It’s unconscionable to consider that this Labour government would reach the next general election having not brought down child poverty and one of the major barriers to that is the two-child limit.

ITV News reported that more than 100 Labour MPs have urged the government to hike gambling taxes and scrap the two-child benefit cap, too.

3. What on earth is happening with the economy?

This government promised to put economic growth at the heart of all its policies when it was elected.

But Britain’s economy has continued to struggle in the months since.

Earlier this week, highly-respected OECD think tank predicted the UK will have the highest rate of inflation of any major economy this year.

In a further blow to chancellor Rachel Reeves – who is set to unveil a make-or-break Budget in November – the organisation also predicted that the economy will grow by just 1% in 2026, down from 1.4 %this year. 

And Reeves does not exactly have money to spare right now, with a £30bn hole in the country’s finances which she is expected to fill.

4. Delays to the Northern Powerhouse rail

Initial reports suggested Starmer was going to unveil a revival of a railway line for the North of England, but it seems this plan has now been scrapped.

The BBC reported that concerns over the cost of the high-speed project put a real dampener on that idea, even though the government allegedly still plans to go ahead with the scheme before the Budget.

But this delay risks strengthening the campaign building around Burnham, who is sometimes described as “king of the north”.

5. Labour’s overall year – and its scandals

Between welfare cuts, bending the knee to Donald Trump – who is deeply unpopular in the UK – and inadvertently referencing Enoch Powell’s infamous Island of Strangers speech, Starmer has not exactly enamoured voters this year.

Though he tried to peg September as an opportunity for a reset, former deputy PM Angela Rayner’s shock resignation over not paying enough stamp duty combined with the scandalous sacking of US ambassador Peter Mandelson have both called Starmer’s judgement into question.

The prime minister fell to his lowest net favourability rating so far in September according to YouGov, with just 21% of Brits saying they have a favourable opinion of him.

When it comes to voting intentions, the same pollsters put right-wing rivals Reform UK in the lead on 29% while Labour lag behind on 20%.

To make matters worse, Labour Party donor Sacha Lord revealed on Thursday that Starmer has lost his support, and criticised his “complete lack of loyalty”.

Labour’s dramatic fall from grace over the last year will certainly have left a lot of party members feeling rather embarrassed – and so many will expect to be suitably cajoled by Starmer at the conference.

But will he manage to pull it off?