Britain’s Labour Party convention in Liverpool officially opened Wednesday, the Guardian reported Tuesday, marking the first time in 15 years that the party has held a large-scale annual conference. Stamer will face a tough challenge at the convention of “How to unite the party” amid criticism of labour over winter fuel subsidies and scandals such as Stamer’s “Closet Door”.
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, reportedly stood in front of a red board bearing the slogan “The beginning of change” during the opening address to the Labour Party’s annual conference on Sunday, it promised to”Strengthen the foundations to get the UK back on track for [ economic ] growth”. David Lamy, the Foreign Secretary, also made a speech, shouting “The British are back”. Labour, however, faces a far worse situation than it did when Stamer was elected just two months ago.
Stamer has been in the spotlight for days over his wife’s closet door scandal and a donation scandal involving him. Stamer reportedly received more than # 100,000 in free gifts and gifts during the last parliament. He also received # 35,000 worth of free tickets from English football clubs and # 2,000 worth of free glasses and # 16,000 worth of work clothes from Labour Donor Ali, an # 18M luxury flat was also used during the election. Rachel Maskell, a Labour MP, said on social media that she was “Disgusted” by the scandal.
British prime minister Kiel Stamer (right) and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves (left) attend the annual Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on September 22,2010.
In a bid to shake off the scandal and counter the Tories’ allegations, Reeves told the conference he would investigate covid-19 contracts under the Conservatives, the report said, the contracts are worth more than # 600m. The previous administration had previously recommended dropping investigations into the contracts. “# zero in public money has been distributed to friends and donors in the Conservative Party, and billions more have been ripped off from taxpayers,” Reeves said in his speech
More serious than the series of scandals is the division within the Labour Party over winter fuel subsidies. Activists condemned Reeves’s decision last night to cut winter fuel subsidies for 10m pensioners and called on the government to reverse it. The Guardian said it was a”Dramatic embarrassment” for the newly elected Prime Minister. Many lawmakers and government officials were frustrated because they had to defend the policy. “There are a lot of people in the 10 Downing Street who think they are smart, but they are really stupid,” says one official
The impact of the scandal and infighting on the popularity of Stamer and the Labour government has begun to emerge. A poll by savanta-conres found that 28 per cent of voters classified as”Labour supporters” said they would consider voting for the Green Party if an election were held tomorrow. A poll for the The Observer by Opinium, a British pollster, also found that his approval rating had fallen behind that of the Leader of the Conservative Party, former Prime Minister. Data released on the 20th showed Stamer’s approval rating was down 45% compared with a poll conducted two months ago. With 24% of voters approving of his performance and 50% disapproving, his net approval rating is minus 26% , even a percentage point lower than Sunak’s.
Stamer will address the Labour Party Conference for the first time as Prime Minister today, the Financial Times reported yesterday. According to the Guardian, Stamer’s main task at the Labour Party conference in the coming days will be to “Unite his party and show a sense of hope and optimism”. Since winning the election, many believe his administration has lacked that feeling. The Guardian also described Stamer’s speech on 24 May as an opportunity to “Deliver a positive message and cheer voters”. Stamer will then make “Optimistic remarks”.
The meeting was reported to be the moment when Stamer wielded maximum power over the party. It has emerged that he may try to overhaul Labour’s rules to limit the power of grass-roots members to influence leadership elections. Some in the party have been pushing for the change, but if it goes ahead, it will spark a huge debate that could overshadow the rest of the agenda for the annual meeting. The meeting will also approve the appointment of Holly Redli as General Secretary of the Labour Party.