Andy Burnham's First Conference Speech: Policy Pledges and a Personal Moment
Andy Burnham delivered his first speech as Labour leader and prime minister at the party conference in Liverpool on September 29, 2026.
The speech was set for 2pm on the main stage, listed at 6:00 AM PDT for international live coverage. Labour's website now carries the full text as the prime minister and leader's address to Conference 2026, along with other keynote transcripts including Ed Miliband and Jonathan Reynolds as Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Labour
On policy, Burnham covered Brexit, the triple lock, electoral reform, growth and defence. The triple lock is the rule that decides how the state pension rises each year. He said Labour's manifesto would include PR, or proportional representation, a voting system in which a party's seats closely match its share of the vote. He called for a review of Britain's relationship with the European Union and said the country should weigh post-Brexit options, including rejoining the bloc. Reuters The BBC listed 'Bringing back public control' among its takeaways. BBC
He prepared largely on his own. He wrote almost all of the speech himself, went for a jog on the morning of the address, then made final amendments. Aides said he was still rewriting just before he walked on stage. About a quarter of what he delivered was ad-libbed. The Guardian
Delivery turned personal. He paused to compose himself and cried when he reached the paragraph about his late father. Several ministers said they were moved to tears, including Ed Miliband, Louise Haigh and Anneliese Midgley. Miliband had recently lost his mother. Lucy Powell was deputy leader at the time.
After the speech, Burnham met ministers in private for a pep talk. He told them to "get out there" and fight for it. He said he would not send them out with "a pea-shooter" and promised proper weapons for the fight ahead. Ministers summed up their response in three words: "He persuaded us".
The night ended in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle with a conference afterparty featuring a set by Sugababes. Separately, Burnham's team had persuaded ministers to delay resignations to avoid chaos in June 2026.
The broader context here is persuasion as a tool of government. A prime minister who took office without winning a general election must first win over his own party before he can win over voters. Emotion in the hall does not answer questions on voting reform, EU options, pensions or defence. It buys time. What comes next will depend on whether the policy detail, funding and timetables promised in private arrive quickly enough for ministers to defend the public pledges.
