Did They Do It? 2024 Conferences:
This edition of Did They Do It will focus on Scotland’s three big parties – Labour, the SNP, and the Conservatives, and how their annual party conferences aligned with their last, and their former promises. Considering the recent political shakeup following the General Election, some changes have been made.
Conservatives – Rishi Sunak
Sunak’s 2023 Conference speech opened with a light-hearted emphasis on family, and his progress on his five major promises as Prime Minister: “to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists, and stop the boats.” He stressed that: “You can never trust Labour with our country’s security”, and boasted the UK’s support for Ukraine.
In 2024, Sunak did not deliver a leader’s speech as is typically done at the end of the conference by the party leader. A mournful ceremony, Sunak apologised to the conference with: “I am only sorry that I could not deliver the results that your efforts deserved.” To which an audience member shouted: “It wasn’t you,” as his speech closed with cheers and chants of “Rishi! Rishi!” The occasion didn’t focus on Rishi’s policies at all, and with four possible future Conservative party leaders, there isn’t one individual to focus this aspect of the tracker on. Sunak did however, call for unity within the party, and that “when we turn in on ourselves we lose; and the country ends up with a Labour government”. And so heartbreakingly, after over a year of slagging off Rishi Sunak in this tracker, I cannot honestly give him a rating in this edition of the tracker at all, and Conservative leaders will be absent from the Accountability Tracker until they select a leader.
The SNP – Stephen Flynn:
With the SNP going through three leaders in three years, this tracker will instead focus on the SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, as he is the only SNP politician to have stayed afloat during the political turmoil of the last few years.
Flynn’s address last year, opening with a call for peace in Palestine, was filled with anti-Conservative rhetoric, targeting the Prime Minister at the time, Rishi Sunak. He also criticised Brexit, the “rotten Tory government”, and attempted to separate the SNP from other Westminster parties, listing their progressive economic policies such as free tuition, baby boxes, and free school meals. Overall, it was an unsurprising call for Scottish independence, that mentioned the SNP’s call from Westminster regarding their Autumn budget: “Reinstate the 400 pound energy rebate to help heat homes this winter. Reintroduce mortgage interest relief to help households who were hit by rising interest rates. And finally – follow the example of our friends in France – tackle the cost of greed crisis and cap food prices in supermarkets for essential items.”
This year, in front of less than 2000 people rather than last year’s conference boasting nearly 12,000, Flynn’s tone had changed. The SNP’s brutal losses were strikingly visible, as Flynn reflected that the SNP had to have “the humility and honesty of defeat in order to renew our relationship with the Scottish people.” He added that those who lost their seats “did this party proud”. He went on to acknowledge that “there is no denying that Labour ran a very effective political campaign”, but that “taking a hammer to public services seems apt for a toolmaker’s son”, referencing PM Kier Starmer’s all too familiar insistence that he was brought up working class. But overall, Flynn’s speech was yet another attempted Braveheart moment, advocating for independence over and over again, with no real substance. Which may be what’s expected of someone who isn’t actually party leader, but as stated, Flynn is the person to analyse here, as he’s the one who stayed in his job. Despite John Swinney’s leaked comments that the SNP was focusing too much on the “process of independence”, Flynn’s speech this year was somewhat consistent, but it was empty. There wasn’t even proposals for what the SNP wanted included in the Autumn budget, or what they hoped to change. It was a eulogy of a formerly popular party. Flynn mercifully gets 4/10 here, as he clearly sticks by his beliefs on independence and faith in his party, but no progress has been made in relations with the UK to progress any of the few policies proposed in 2023, and in 2024, proposed policies have been completely ignored.
Labour – Kier Starmer:
As the new Prime Minister, Starmer has a lot of promises to live up to, with his five promises from his speech at last year’s conference being: “higher growth. Safer streets. Cheap British power in your home. More opportunities in your community. The NHS – off its knees.” Obviously, this is hard to measure considering that he’s been in the job for three months, in comparison to the 14 years that the Conservatives governed the UK. Nonetheless, his promises and policies should still be analysed and when needed, fairly criticised.
Starmer lined out the UK public’s priorities in his 2024 speech: “economic stability, national security, wealth creation, protecting our borders, rooting out Antisemitism, standing with NATO and Ukraine.” He added that the Labour Party has made “irreversible” changes.
Starmer’s 2024 speech was surprisingly consistent conserving his past record of U-turns, as he promised: “The patient, calm, determined era of politics as service has begun.” He also promised a “crackdown on knife crime” as well as more neighbourhood police, a higher living wage, the launch of Labour’s publicly-owned clean energy company, Great British Energy, an increase in teachers, a National Wealth Fund, offshore wind projects, and a ten-year plan for the National Health Service. If you’re familiar with thus column, you’ll know that I grit my teeth when giving Kier Starmer credit for anything, but this is a genuinely impressive and consistent speech. It’s important to keep in mind that the Autumn Budget is coming up on the 30th of October, so what Labour will prioritise economically is still to be revealed.
His words on Palestine were more sensitive than last year, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the recognition of a Palestinian state. The substance of his words on the conflict in Gaza remain mostly the same, but now he calls for a de-escalation between Israel and Lebanon, rather than simply calling for Israel’s right to “defend her people” as he did last year.
Overall, Starmer gets an 8/10. Again, keep in mind that Starmer has only gotten in the job in the grand scheme of things, and the Autumn Budget is yet to be set, hence he doesn’t get a full score as he still has to put these economic policies to paper at the end of the month. But in terms of promises, and the substance of his two speeches, they’ve remained hopefully consistent.
Feature Image Credit: Niamh Brook
4th year Politics and Journalism student.
Secretary for Brig
The Herald Student Press Awards Columnist Of The Year 2024 (which sorry i’m still not over)
