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<\/picture><\/span>Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n“We need to be the smallest possible moving target.”<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is a phrase I keep hearing here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n And it is an insight into Labour’s mentality at this conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Don’t create hostages to fortune. Don’t score own goals. Don’t create easy opportunities for the Conservatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is a mentality that bears the collective weight, from the party’s perspective, of a doom-laden history.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Whichever way you look at it, Labour lose a lot of elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is almost 50 years since Labour won an election without a leader called Tony Blair.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n There are only four occasions since the Second World War where Labour have taken power from the Conservatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “Opportunities don’t come along like this very often for the Labour Party,” says one senior figure, with a splash of understatement, about the party finding itself – potentially – in a position to win.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “It is like walking a tightrope in a straitjacket. And trying not to fall off,” says another senior figure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n This corner of Liverpool is a sea of cautious smiles. A party daring to believe it can win, but so aware it has thought that before – in 1992, in 2015, to pick just two – only to go on to lose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n “It is beaten-dog syndrome,” as one shadow cabinet minister puts it. The party hears the word “election” and instantly fears history repeating itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n But hang on, there is an understated confidence around too. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is talking about wanting a “decade of national renewal”. A decade. That implies winning two general elections, not just one.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n One of the architects of New Labour, Lord Mandelson, is touring the conference telling anyone who will listen how much Labour has changed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He claims the party has switched back “from weird to normal”, a line that got a laugh in front of a room full of business leaders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The description, which former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would no doubt regard as gratuitous and personal, came at a dinner of the City of London Corporation, which represents the finance sector.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n He joked with his hosts that the Corporation was now “almost to the left of Labour”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The former powerhouses of the party under Mr Corbyn – those on the Left – are banished, vanquished, have even disappeared. Those still around the place say they are “trying to remain relevant”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Sir Keir’s approach was described to me recently as being “pragmatically radical”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n It is tempting to dismiss this kind of label as typically meaningless Westminster guff. Maybe it is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n What it sought to articulate was a sense of moving cautiously – “painting in the detail” of policy ideas, as one shadow minister put it to me – while also sketching out a longer-term vision, which could amount to significant change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The plans on housebuilding – and in particular new towns in England – could amount to this if they ever happened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nHope and fear<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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