David Evans – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference
The speech made by David Evans, the General Secretary of the Labour Party, on 25 September 2022.
Conference, it is so great to be here in Liverpool.
This year we have the largest exhibition for a decade and our biggest ever fringe. We will all leave more motivated, more committed and more inspired.
I was certainly inspired last time I was here as a member. In a small room, at the back of this conference centre, I had the privilege to hear Jack Dromey. He told the story of the struggle that was the Grunwick dispute, honestly, openly and with absolute conviction. He spoke of the Asian workforce denied union recognition. Of the passion and resolve of Jayaben Desai and the other strikers and the power of a movement standing by those in need. He represented the very best of our movement. We miss you Jack and we carry on the fight.
From this conference floor to the fringe, there will be moments just like that this week. Moments that give complete clarity to our mission. To gain power, political power. Not for itself but so we can give it to those who don’t have it. Root out injustice, and set our country on a fairer course. To do this we need to win and keep winning.
When I was appointed in 2020, some confided that they had doubted we would ever win again. They looked at the electoral map – an endless ocean of blue. They saw a party at sea, in danger of being washed away altogether. And be in no doubt, 163 seats behind the Tories, 2019 was a near death experience.
But because of Keir and Angela’s leadership, because of your hard work, your belief, your dedication, we have a real chance to do something never done before and turn a defeat of that scale into victory in a single term. We are tackling everything that stands in the way. Not measuring ourselves against 2019 but against the best campaigns in the world. Focused on the voters we need to persuade in the seats we need to win.
We’ve made hard financial decision so today we have no debt, no deficit, now able to invest in a winning campaign. We’re also making sure our Party lives up to its values. So that anyone who walks into a CLP meeting is welcomed, supported, and included in our Labour family, just as I was 43 years ago when I first walked in.
That’s why I have apologised on behalf of this Party for the unacceptable behaviour set out in Martin Forde’s report. And why we will act on the report, without fear or favour. And why we must never forget the contents of the EHRC’s investigation into us for anti-Semitism.
It showed we had not just fallen short of our values, we had fallen short of the law, a law the Labour Government created. That is why, because of your votes last year, we set up an independent complaints process for all forms of discrimination. The strongest of any political party in the world. That is why, at this podium last year, I said I would not accept prejudice directed at anybody in the party or by anybody in the party. I have not and I will not.
Conference, to win, we start with the voters. I’d like talk about Sarah, who I canvassed in Wakefield in July. She was in her back kitchen where she ran a hairdressing business. She left us at the last election, she voted Conservative. She made an honest choice based on what she thought was best for her, her family and her business. She’d lost faith in politics. Lost trust in us. We need to earn her trust, because only then can we persuade her.
Think about who you trust? People you know well, who share your values, who you can depend on when you need them. It is the same for our Party.
Sarah needs to see and hear a Labour Party that listens, is authentic, rooted in everyday life that has genuine answers to the problems she faces. And in the next General Election she will. She will see this on the TV and hear it on the radio. From our incredible frontbench team right through to our equally incredible councillors. She will hear it from our campaigners and candidates, online and on her doorstep, who will take the time to understand her concerns. She will see it in the posters in shopfronts and in her neighbour’s windows. Leaflets through her letterbox. And she will feel through the leadership of Keir Starmer. On her side. A prime minister in waiting. Ready to change Britain.
We are starting to earn that trust back. In the local elections, we had a clear offer about energy prices, the cost of living, the need to have a windfall tax.
What were the Tories talking about? Their repugnant Rwanda policy and a curry house in Durham. The same old Tory playbook. Using the defenceless as political pawns, creating division and distrust.
Our message cut through by going directly to voters. Earning trust, one voter at a time. Over two and a half million conversations on the doorstep, the highest ever recorded in a local election campaign. And we got our best results for a decade. Our vote up six per cent. Dominant in Wales. Back as the main opposition in Scotland. Winning councils for the first time from Worthing, to Westminster to Cumberland. That was in May.
In June, we got our best by-election win for a decade. And by the way, Sarah did vote Labour in that by-election in Wakefield. But we need to keep her with us. By July, Boris Johnson was forced out. Was that inevitable? No. These wins did that, we did that, you did that, Sarah did that.
This is what political activism means. This is what it can achieve. And these wins were also the work of our staff. All our successes are built on small acts of empathy, creativity and graft, that taken together amount to something awe-inspiring. This is what I see every day from our Labour staff. You are brilliant. Thank you.
But conference, be in no doubt about the scale of the challenge. Public services hang by a thread. Poverty rising. Living standards falling. Under this government, every shock we’ve seen austerity, Covid, energy prices. It has been the poorest who have paid the price. That’s why our job is not just to win the next general election. For deeper, more fundamental change, so this never happens again.
We need to win, win and win again. This means building a Party that sustains Labour in government that gets ahead of the Conservatives and stays ahead. We all have a role in this.
I was working for the Party last time we went into government. And winning isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning of change. Look being in opposition is retched. But being in government is tough, it’s easy for the Tories, they are in it for themselves, but we want to transform our country, change the world. Our goal now is to forge a closer relationship between our Party that will be in government and our Party in the country. A more honest, open, modern politics.
We need a Labour government listening, engaging, drawing on the full strength of our movement. Our Party in the country, acting as a direct line to the people. That’s why I’m determined that our Party grows deeper roots into every community. It’s how we win and it’s also how we achieve lasting change.
That’s why I’m so pleased we’ve just hired 31 trainee organisers to join our brilliant team in every region and nation of this country. They are here today. And by 2024 we’ll have 30 more. They will work in the seats that will decide this election and the next.
It is also why I’m so thrilled about our newly selected candidates. A new generation of Labour representatives, with the life experience, dedication and values we need to win and to govern.
Conference, this is the future of the Party we’re building together. A party that will get Keir Starmer into Downing Street and Labour into Government. A party that will end this 12 year nightmare. A party united in our common mission.
So let’s get out there and show we are ready. Let’s keep organising. Let’s keep listening. Let’s win.
And let’s keep winning.
