Image source, Getty Images

We're going to end our coverage from Brighton.

Our writers on board with you today were Kate Whannel and Paul Seddon.

We'll be back next week when the conference caravan heads to Manchester for the Conservatives annual gathering.

Thanks for following along with us.

Image source, Getty Images

What did Starmer set out to achieve?published at 15:40 BST 29 September 2021

15:40 BST 29 September 2021

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

Reviews of the speech from the conference floor were largely but not universally positive.

One union leader, for example, praised him for "regaining issues from the Tories that should always have been ours".

Meanwhile a prominent figure on the left who had backed him for leader said the speech was "somehow long yet incomplete".

They said that while it was aimed 'narrowly' at swing voters, there were omissions which could have been party-pleasing without alienating a wider electorate such as a call for more rapid global vaccination.

But the speech was designed to demonstrate that Labour was returning to a focus om mainstream issues - such as health and education - which were the priorities of the sceptical voters Keir Starmer met in the summer.

But while some of his priorities are similar to the last Labour government, some of the policies are not. There is some radicalism beneath the reassuring rhetoric particularly on employment rights which are some distance away from Tony Blair's flexible labour market.

So what did the speech set out to achieve? Here are five aims:

1. To convince voters that Keir Starmer's back story is a guide to the future, and that his seriousness would be an asset in serious times
2. That Labour has a vision for the future and is ready to meet the challenges of climate change and harness technology to improve peoples lives
3. To draw clear dividing lines with the Conservatives - such as taking money from public schools to help state schools
4. That Labour can be trusted with your money - new pledges are costed
5. That the party is changing - hence the rubbishing of the 2019 manifesto, and probably aided by the heckling, which aides would have known would have been further fuelled by approving references to the Blair/Brown era.

Now, of course, whether in political jargon these have 'landed' will down to voters and not the conference delegates to decide.

Image source, Reuters

Away from the policy and announcements there were several key moments in Keir Starmer's speech. So what else did he say?

• He talked about his own journey into politics, saying his father had taught him about the dignity of work and his mother, a former nurse, who died in 2015, about the "nobility of care"
• In the face of some heckling from the conference hall, he promised to focus on "changing lives" instead of "shouting slogans"

• He took several swipes at Boris Johnson, attacking him as "trivial", a "showman" and a "trickster who has performed his one trick"
• He hit out at the government's performance during the ongoing fuel shortages, and said the Conservatives need a plan to "make Brexit work"
• He vowed to "retool Britain for the future" through new technology, and be tough on crime
• And he got a long standing ovation by praising the record of Tony Blair's government, adding it had succeeded in "levelling up" the country before it became a Tory priority.

Image source, Reuters

Sir Keir Starmer said that a Labour government would:

• Ensure mental health support is available for those who need it in less than a month by hiring 8,500 new specialist staff
• Retrofit 19 million homes within a decade to make sure they are properly insulated and energy efficient
• Recruit "thousands" of new teachers and provide extra training for headteachers
• Fast track rape and sexual assault cases and toughen sentences for rapists, stalkers and domestic abusers
• Set a target to invest a minimum of 3% of GDP in to science and research

• Introduce a Clean Air Act and make sure everything government does meets a “net zero” test

Image source, PA Media

After his speech, journalists got to question Starmer's team about his performance.

Asked about that handful of hecklers interrupting the speech, they said it was "clear some people this week haven’t accepted the change Keir wanted to bring to party and that was borne out in hall ".

But they said it was only a small number of people and "it didn't knock him off his stride... or distract him".

They added: "Starmer delivered the speech in an optimistic, confident tone."

Image source, Reuters

Conservative Party chairman Oliver Dowden has accused Labour of spending "five days talking to themselves about themselves instead of to the country".

"As Labour's chaotic conference comes to an end, it is clear Sir Keir Starmer's party is more divided than ever and has no plan," he said.

"From resignations in the middle of their own conference, to their union backers deserting them, to disrupting their leader's speech, Labour are too preoccupied fighting amongst themselves to put forward a plan for our country."

Reality Check

On fuel shortages, Keir Starmer told his party conference: “A tank of fuel already costs £10 more than it did at the start of the year.”

That’s about right.

In the first week of the year, external, the average UK price for a litre of petrol was about 115p, while diesel was about 120p a litre, according to government figures.

The latest figure is 135p for petrol and 138p for diesel.

So you would need a fuel tank of about 50 litres, which is a pretty normal midsize car, to be paying £10 more for a tankful.

Image source, PA Media

Another union takes a very different approach, calling out Sir Keir and his speech.

The national political lead of Unite, Rob MacGregor, says there "wasn't much" for its members worried about fuel shortages, the end of furlough and fire and rehire tactics.

He adds: "We needed to hear a Labour leader who is as angry as we are about the harm being done to our workers, as as determined as Unite to stand up against abusive employers.

"We're clearly not there yet."

Iain Watson
Political correspondent

The speech was peppered with attempts to meld Keir Starmer's back story to his ambitions for the future, rather than simply using his CV to introduce himself to voters.

When talking about violence against women he shows that he can be emotional as well as determined, using a heart-wrenching case to commit to tougher sentences.

Jennifer Scott
Political reporter, BBC News

The buzz around the conference as people start to pack up there bags is mostly positive.

Ben McGowan said the speech was "good" and he saw it as progress on Starmer's predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn.

"It was the first time we were able to see him and get a clear vision of what he was about," he said.

"He was confident and he just came up with things that sounded like we could win. It may not have been policy heavy, but it was a vision that I think will get through to the public."

We will have to wait and see about that at the ballot box...

Image source, Unison

The general secretary of Unison, Christina McAnea, says Starmer's Labour was "offering just what the country needs after 11 years of Tory mismanagement".

Responding to the speech, the union leader adds: "Communities across the UK are struggling on so many levels.

"Keir's speech shows that Labour in power could bring hope to the many families forgotten by this government.

"This is a serious plan for change."

Reality Check

Keir Starmer told his party conference: “Over 11 years of Tory government, we have lost more than 8,000 police officers.”

The most recent figures, external we have for full-time equivalent police officers in England and Wales is from 31 March this year, when there were 135,301.

That’s 8,433 fewer than the figure for 31 March 2010, which was just over a month before the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government came to power.

At the low-point in 2018, the figure was almost 20,000 officers below the 2010 level.

The government promised in 2019 to recruit 20,000 more police officers by 2023, which would return numbers close to their 2010 levels.

Jennifer Scott
Political reporter, BBC News

But not everyone was thrilled with the policies outlined by Sir Keir Starmer - especially his call for more police on the streets.

I spoke to one woman in tears about that element, in light of today's news around the murder of Sarah Everard and her killer, who was a police officer.

She said: "I don't feel safe, and right now I am scared of the police. I don't want to hear about having more of them, especially today."

Another woman I spoke to, Saranya Thambirajah, felt a similar way.

"There was a lot of rhetoric on crime and I don't think it is appropriate after the year we have had, with Black Lives Matter, attacks on women, and what we have found out about Sarah Everard's murder," she added.

Jennifer Scott
Political reporter, BBC News

Two other delegates thrilled with the speech were Andi Hopgood and Isabelle Gutierrez, who are both members of the Musicians' Union.

Andi, who is a music teacher, said: "I loved it! I have never heard someone talk so passionately about getting music and instruments to every child in school.

"Education should be creative. It is not just about science and technology!"

Isabelle added: "I loved it too. It was great to hear us sounding like a government in waiting again."

Jennifer Scott
Political reporter, BBC News

Former Labour MP turned West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin was thrilled with Starmer's performance, calling it "powerful".

She told me: "He laid out his vision and really differentiated between a Conservative government and what he would look like in power.

"I feel really safe in his hands with his experience, and I loved us talking about being in government - it has been a while!"

Sir Keir Starmer has told Labour's conference his principles are work, care, equality and security, which are the "tools of my trade".

The party leader closed his conference speech to a standing ovation – following earlier heckling – saying these values "take you right to the heart of the British public".

Starmer shifts Labour's education policies back to the centrepublished at 14:03 BST 29 September 2021

14:03 BST 29 September 2021

Sean Coughlan
BBC News, education correspondent

“Education is so important I am tempted to say it three times,” Sir Keir Starmer told the Labour party conference.

That knowing nod to Labour’s mantra under Tony Blair was a sign of an education policy shifting back towards the centre ground.

Sir Keir warned of 200,000 primary pupils growing up in areas where there were no schools rated good or outstanding.

Those ratings are given by Ofsted - and at the last general election Labour was promising to scrap the inspection service.

That has now changed to a plan to “reform” Ofsted. There was also no sign of other previous policies such as scrapping Sats tests or clipping the wings of academies and free schools.

There will be a “National Excellence Programme” - and the language again has echoes of Labour’s years in office, when the bedrock of its policy was on raising standards.

Warning that the pandemic had seen the attainment gap widening between rich and poor pupils, the Labour leader promised “the most ambitious school improvement plan in a generation”.

He promised Labour would focus on preparing young people for work, including digital skills.

It was an appeal to parents that Labour was now forward-looking in education rather than inward-looking, keen on hi-tech skills and summoning up the spirit of the ‘white heat of technology’.

“I want every parent in the country to be able to send their child to a great state school,” he told the conference.

Deputy leader Angela Rayner says the heckles were "awful" but the "vast majority" of the audience wanted to hear Starmer's message.

She says people could see in the speech saw what drives Starmer and what he would be like as a prime minister.

"Here is a guy who you would trust your kids and your house with," she says.

She acknowledges Labour "got absolutely hammered at the last election" but says Starmer's speech demonstrated: "We are a party not of protest but of government."

BBC Politics Live
BBC2's lunchtime political programme

Keir Starmer's speech has received mixed reviews from two Labour figures outside the conference hall.

Laura Pidcock, a left-wing former MP who lost her seat at the 2019 election, tells Politics Live on BBC2 it was "long" and "quite uninspiring".

"I didn't really hear any commitments in his speech, and that's disappointing," she adds.

She says some of the heckles were inappropriate but that party members feel "deeply aggrieved" by the way they have been treated.

"He needs to speak to working class voters", she adds.

There's a different view from Angela Eagle, who says the address "showed that we're focused on winning the election" and "dealt with the concerns the British people have".

She says the heckling inside the hall was "petulant and small, and very disappointing".