What a difference a year makes, party conference season 2026

As I return home from this year’s party conference season, two things really stick out in my mind. First how ridiculously long it has felt this year, but more importantly, how radically different the political outlook appears compared to this time last year.

In 2025 Keir Starmer successfully fought off an attempted coup from Andy Burnham, Kemi Badenoch was similarly facing off a potential challenge on her leadership, and Nigel Farage was going from strength to strength, the seemingly unstoppable electoral force in British politics. 2026 and its all change once again.