Angela Rayner strikes emotional chord with Labour MPs in conference speech amid gifts scandal

Angela Rayner may have got it wrong in her BBC speech about donations from wealthy donors, but her opening speech at the Labour Party conference breathed some life into what threatened to be a depressing day.

The dark clouds gathering over Liverpool as activists arrived were an expression of a sense of unease about the state of the new government.

Less than three months have passed since the euphoria of the party’s election victory over the Conservatives.

What should have been a celebration of a historic victory was overshadowed by arguments over Sue Gray, Lord Alli, football tickets, holidays in New York and clothes for the Prime Minister’s wife.

The idea that Labour ministers were behaving like pigs at a trough, like the Conservatives, at such an early stage in government gave the whole event a worrying quality.

Rayner’s suggestion to Laura Kuenssberg that accepting gifts was OK because “all MPs do it” did not fit the “change” narrative the party was promising voters.

Unions and the left also fear Keir Starmer is leading them into a new era of austerity after 10 million pensioners had their winter fuel payments cut, while Rachel Reeves is set to take action to clean up a £22bn “black hole” in the public finances.

It was therefore important that Rayner deliver a powerful, rousing speech from the outset.

After holding back tears, she gave it her all, celebrating her election victory and announcing a range of reforms demanded by the left – whether it was rights for workers and tenants or the construction of new homes.

The wrinkles on the faces of club members visibly turned into smiles.

The cheers that greeted her speech reflected the optimism in Rayner’s message and struck an emotional chord with the audience.

Now her fellow ministers must build on the sense of hope she has brought to the table – but that could prove to be a major challenge.