Labour Conference Opens Under Burnham Amid Poll Lift, Palantir Row

The Labour Party opened its first annual conference under Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Liverpool this week, with Burnham due to address delegates on Tuesday to set out his policy plans, as a new poll pointed to rising belief the party could win the next election even as members clashed over a £330 million NHS contract held by the data firm Palantir.²¹⁵⁴

A polling lift

According to a Public First survey published at the conference, 53% of voters now believe Labour has a realistic chance of winning the next election, up from 33% in May when Keir Starmer was in his final stages as prime minister. The same poll found belief in Reform UK's chances had fallen to 47% from 65% four months earlier, according to the survey, as Reform faced negative headlines over funding scandals. Burnham's personal approval rating stood at +16 net positive, down slightly from +19 when he took office in July, according to the poll.¹

The survey also found the cost of living remained voters' top priority, cited by 59%, with 56% saying the government was not doing enough and 38% saying their personal finances had worsened since Labour took power. Only 20% expected Burnham's government to make real improvements on living costs, and 44% expected to be worse off after next month's budget. Seb Wride, head of polling at Public First, said: "Burnham still has to turn the belief in him into benefits which the public actually feels," adding that "the budget may be the first real test. The public already feels worse off under Labour, and isn't convinced Burnham can turn that around." Around half of respondents believed Burnham should call an election for legitimacy, though he has explicitly ruled one out, according to the poll.¹

Dispute over Palantir's NHS contract

Ahead of the conference, Labour members submitted an emergency motion, backed by the Socialist Health Association and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, seeking to cancel Palantir's contract to process NHS data, worth up to £330 million and covering as many as 240 NHS organisations under a deal first awarded in 2023, according to reporting on the contract. The motion described Palantir as facing allegations of involvement in serious human rights breaches, including developing technology for Israel's military, a claim the dossier confirms across multiple sources. The Labour Party's Conference Arrangements Committee ruled the motion did not meet the criteria for debate, prompting Hazel Grove councillor Jon Byrne to tell the conference: "I wish to question the CAC on its rejection of our emergency motion on Palantir's NHS contracts," while adding, "We fully accept the CAC's authority to make the decision but we ask that a detailed explanation is provided."⁴³

Dan Iley-Williamson of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said, "Labour members - just like people up and down the country - are disgusted that a company deeply implicated in Israel's ongoing genocide has this £330 million NHS contract," and called it "deeply disappointing that Labour blocked this emergency motion." Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told the conference, "under Andy's leadership, we have reset our approach. he denounced the ethnic cleansing carried out by settler extremists in the West Bank... he condemned the mounting evidence of war crimes in Gaza. he described Israel's occupation of Palestine as unlawful. And we match words with actions," as the government announced sanctions on Israeli settlements and a ban on arms licences and exports to Israel, according to Middle East Eye. Separately, critics including Rathi Guhadasan and Clive Lewis raised concerns over the contract and Palantir's recent appointment of Tom Watson as a senior vice-president, with Guhadasan saying "Palantir's human rights record is easily enough to disqualify it from government contracts." Palantir's Tom Watson said the company was "doing work of consequence in defence, policing and healthcare," while the Department of Health and Social Care said the platform was delivering benefits to patients and ministers said the contract would be reviewed through standard procedures.⁴³

Tests ahead

Burnham, who took office as prime minister in July after Parliament ousted Starmer's government according to conference reporting, has vowed to make difficult choices and bring an end to what he termed ten years of stagnation and polarization following Brexit. He acknowledged that major changes to social care would not happen ahead of the next election, though he pledged his conference speech would lay out his approach to financing a national care service, per the Institute for Government. Burnham is scheduled to address the conference on Tuesday to lay out his broader policy plans, following a conference held under the slogan "Hope Again."⁵⁷⁶²