Category Archives: Government

Labour Party Conference 2025 Takeaways

As the party departs Liverpool, still clearly grappling with the challenges of what being the party of government brings, we’ve learned a lot about the direction the party is going. Here are our quick takeaways.

Keir Starmer has shored up his position…for now. With the noise going into this conference all about the leadership challenge from Manchester’s Andy Burnham, the sight of his early departure from conference before the PM’s speech will please No.10. In what could have been a perilous week for the PM, strong reaffirmation of the Chancellor’s fiscal rules, coupled with strong defences from cabinet ministers and aides, resulted in Burnham conceding that Starmer is the “right person for the job”. You can’t help but add the line “for the moment…” with other rising stars like Shabana Mahmood and Wes Streeting clearly biding their time.

Labour is taking the fight to reform. In what was probably his strongest speech as party leader, Starmer clearly set the parameters for British politics. For him, this is about Labour vs Reform. Decency vs division. Ultimately, the class-conscious speech was a deliberate attempt to win back the working class that has increasingly abandoned the party over the years to the likes of Reform. In this more combative approach, he also decried Reform’s policies on immigration as “racist”. A punchy line of attack which worked in the room, but he will hope doesn’t unravel as a perceived attack on all Reform sympathisers who are doubting the centrist parties’ ability to deliver.

The looming budget has not got any easier. In media briefings over the weekend, and in her speech, Rachel Reeves continued the manifesto commitment to not raise taxes on working people. Whilst at the same time, to appease critical voices in the Labour party, she is flirting with the idea of more spending – both on infrastructure and lifting the two-child limit. She said she is a chancellor that wants to invest. None of this sounds like a chancellor staring down the prospect of having to find £30bn in November to plug the gap predicted by the OBR.

The difference a Labour government makes. This has been the underlying strategic narrative of the conference to fend off criticism there is no difference between this government and a Conservative one. We saw speech after speech rattle off long lists of tangible activities the government has taken across the policy spectrum. We can expect much more of this narrative to come, together with a clear focus on ‘showing’ that delivery to the electorate, rather than just ‘telling‘ them.

Why building 1.5 million homes isn’t as simple as it sounds….

Building 1.5 million new homes over the course of this parliament was a flagship policy commitment in Labour’s general election manifesto. The recently appointed housing secretary Steve Reed initially echoed the government’s ambition with the slogan ‘build baby build’. Reed has gone onto say the rate of construction is ‘unacceptable’ and has promised to increase the pace of housebuilding to deliver on Labour’s ambitious pre-election pledge.

The housing industry is facing a series of skills shortages. The Office for National Statistics warned that there are over 35,000 job vacancies in construction, many of which remain unfilled due to a lack of qualified workers. The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has stated that 61,000 new workers are needed each year to meet the government’s housebuilding target. Ministers have heard the calls of the CITB and in March announced that they would be investing up to £600 million to support training in the construction sector. This includes £165 million to help colleges deliver more construction courses and £40 million to support new foundation apprenticeships (launched in August). The £40 million includes an incentive of £2,000 per foundation apprentice hired and retained by employers which has been widely welcomed by the construction industry. The government has signalled that there could be continued investment, although this is likely to be restricted due to the current pressure on the public finances.

Another hurdle is the planning process. The number of new homes built in the UK has fallen during the government’s first year in office. Ministers have conceded there are ‘excessive rules’ delaying construction. The government is attempting to streamline the planning process through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which is currently before parliament. Ministers claim that the bill will create a more decisive planning system and increase the amount of land available for developers. Whilst the bill is a step in the right direction, the impact is unlikely to be immediate.

Despite these barriers, there are some clear opportunities for the construction sector. Increases to training investment, new apprenticeships and the promise of reforms all signal the government’s continued prioritisation of the sector. The changing environment and the development of a potential second planning bill present stakeholders with a wide range of opportunities to engage with policymakers, shape regulation and improve relations between the government and sector.

Opportunity or Uncertainty? What the government reshuffle means for food and agriculture businesses

The government’s latest reshuffle has moved two Defra heavyweights to new departments. Rt Hon Steve Reed MP and Daniel Zeichner MP had invested time and energy in building relationships with the food and farming industries and getting to grips with the challenges faced by businesses in each. With a new secretary of state heading up the department and a new farming minister now appointed, the challenge for both the ministerial team and the sector is to hit the ground running and ensure policy progress does not stall.

The first all-female ministerial team, the new Defra team is certainly groundbreaking. Each minister brings experiences from different backgrounds and with that, a different set of priorities. For businesses in the food and agricultural sectors, these appointments signal both opportunity and uncertainty, raising questions about how the department will approach issues like rural growth, food security, and land management.

A fresh new ministerial line up at Defra presents farming and agricultural businesses with a wealth of opportunities. In the aftermath of a reshuffle, businesses should be thinking about how to best introduce themselves and strike up a relationship with the new team. While getting to grips with their briefs, ministers will be seeking solutions to the challenges they face. Aligning your business with the government’s priorities, and offering tangible solutions, will be the most effective way to gain trust.

New Appointment: Emma Reynolds – Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Emma Reynolds was appointed as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 5 September 2025, replacing Steve Reed. Reynolds joins Defra from the Treasury, where she served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister. She was elected as the MP for Wycombe last year.

The reaction to Reynolds’ appointment from the agricultural community has been largely positive. Shortly after assuming the role, Reynolds met with NFU President Tom Bradshaw, who described their meeting as a ‘constructive and positive conversation’. Speaking to the Farmers Weekly Podcast, Jonathan Roberts of the Country, Land and Business Association stated that Reynolds is ‘pretty interested’ in farming and that she understands the challenges that the industry is facing. In a year where farmers have been protesting in Westminster, particularly over the issue of inheritance tax relief, rebuilding trust between the agricultural community and the government is crucial. Reynolds’ background in the Treasury could also be an advantage for the industry. Whilst she might lack experience in dealing with agricultural issues, her financial acumen and understanding of how the Treasury works is an important starting point for unlocking rural growth and protecting the industry.

New Appointment: Dame Angela Eagle CBE – Minister of State (Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs)

Dame Angela replaced Daniel Zeichner MP as Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs as part of last week’s cabinet reshuffle. Eagle joins Defra from the Home Office, where she served as Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum. She has been the MP for Wallasey for over thirty years and has a wealth of experience in both government and the shadow cabinet.

Eagle’s appointment has attracted a mixed reaction from the agricultural community. Whilst Eagle’s profile as a senior Labour MP might result in farming becoming a significant issue on the policy agenda, she is seen more as a political operator rather than a sector insider. Despite the backlash regarding changes to inheritance tax relief for agricultural assets, Zeichner was praised for his ability to build relationships with the farming community. Therefore, it is important that Eagle engages with the sector to the same extent and grasps the realities of the challenges faced by the agricultural community.

Existing Appointment: Emma Hardy MP – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Water and Flooding)

Emma Hardy MP was appointed to her current ministerial position in July 2024, having previously served as Shadow Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience. Hardy is a trained teacher and worked for the National Union of Teachers before entering politics.

Since taking office, Hardy has dedicated significant funding to enhance resilience against flooding. This includes £60 million in recovery payments to farm businesses, and £50 million to support internal drainage boards in reducing flood risks in rural areas. Hardy has also been proactive in supporting the construction of new infrastructure to enhance water security, such as the Havant Thicket Reservoir.

However, Hardy has been involved in flashpoints between the government and the agricultural sector. In January 2025, the government rejected an application from British Sugar and the NFU to use an emergency neonicotinoid pesticide on sugar beet, with Hardy stating that the decision was made to protect bees. This illustrates the complexity of government decision making when balancing agricultural productivity with environmental impact. This dynamic is likely to continue throughout the remainder of this parliament.

Existing Appointment: Mary Creagh MP – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Nature)

Mary Creagh MP was appointed as Minister for Nature in July 2024. Creagh has an extensive background in environmental affairs, as previous chair of the Environmental Audit Committee and previous shadow Defra secretary of state.

Key milestones for her tenure as Minister for Nature include the announcement of a Nature Restoration Fund, which promises to work alongside farms in supporting conservation efforts, and a £1.1 billion boost to improving local recycling services in England. In June 2025, Creagh also announced a £13.6 million scheme to support farming and cut food waste by redistributing surplus produce to homelessness charities and food banks.

Existing Appointment: Baroness Hayman of Ullock – Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Lords Minister)

Baroness Hayman has been a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Defra since July 2024, bringing with her extensive parliamentary and environmental experience. Baroness Hayman took up her peerage in the House of Lords in 2020. She served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 2017 and 2019, and later the Shadow Environmental Spokesperson from 2020 to 2024.

As a passionate animal welfare advocate, most of Baroness Hayman’s parliamentary activities fall under that responsibility. However, she has also sought to promote the interests of British farmers in supporting government efforts to protect livestock by implementing preventative measures against the spread of foot and mouth disease.

Starmer’s forced reshuffle won’t distract from the challenges ahead

Keir Starmer has a natural dislike for carrying out reshuffles, recognising the political damage they have caused for several of his predecessors. Reshuffles can end up creating more enemies than friends, and despite a working majority of over 150, Starmer will be only too aware that his personal approval rating is at its lowest ebb since the election last year.

While the timing of the reshuffle was far from ideal, the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner for a failure to pay the correct amount of stamp duty forced his hand. Last week was originally billed as the second phase of the Labour government’s programme for change. If year one was about clearing up the Conservative mess, year two was supposed to be all about implementation and delivery. But no sooner than No.10 had announced its 2.0 reset, the government’s ethics adviser found Rayner in breach of the ministerial code, forcing Starmer onto the back foot and wrestling to regain the political narrative.

Emerging from the reshuffle were three themes. The first was the rise of Labour’s future leadership candidates. On the Blairite wing of the party is the immovable Wes Streeting at Health. With waiting times for elective care heading in the right direction and one of the best media performers in government, Streeting has embedded his position as one of the big beasts within the party. Another MP that has moved firmly centre stage is Shabana Mahmood. Applauded for her handling of the prison crisis shortly after Labour entered office, she has been rewarded with a big promotion to the Home Office. Mahmood is seen as part of Blue Labour – a movement within the party designed to promote policies that bring back working class ‘blue-collar’ communities to Labour. Mahmood has demonstrated she is willing to take a more radical approach to policy, and with the small boats at the top of the political agenda, she has been entrusted to stop the crossings and eliminate the asylum backlog.

The second theme thrown into stark relief by Rayner’s departure is the widening gap in the soft left of the Party. There is an opportunity for someone on this wing to pick up the baton as a future leadership candidate. Some of the candidates emerging on the soft left, including Bridget Phillipson, Louise Haigh and Emily Thornberry, have already thrown their hats into the ring to become the next Deputy Labour leader. This is a potential headache for Starmer, who used this reshuffle to secure positions for several Blairites within the Cabinet, and who won’t want a powerful counterpoint within the party creating unhelpful new powerbases. One to watch will be Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who is believed to want to return to Westminster politics at some point in the future. The deputy leadership race will run until 25 October, and all eyes will be on whether the internal party politics of the next six weeks create wider political difficulties for Starmer. The mood of the Parliamentary Labour Party will be under the spotlight, as will the success (or not) of No.10 and the Whips Office at party management.

The final theme to note is that Starmer has brought several experienced MPs back into government, and moved out some familiar faces. Ian Murray, former Secretary of State for Scotland, may be justified if he feels hard done by, having been shuffled out of government. During Labour’s years in opposition he was the only Labour MP in Scotland. In a sign of Starmer’s willingness to be ruthless when required, he has brought back veteran politician Douglas Alexander, who served in the cabinets of both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, to head up the Scotland brief. Another example is Emma Reynolds, who has been appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Reynolds was an MP between 2010 and 2019 and successfully ousted Conservative MP Steve Baker at the 2024 General Election to return to parliament. The experience of these senior politicians reflects Starmer’s commitment to focus on delivery.

After a difficult first year in government that saw the Prime Minister expend a significant amount of political capital, and with a challenging Budget ahead, Starmer will be acutely aware that his government must now deliver. Otherwise, there is a real risk that this period of labour in office could be viewed as a wasted opportunity.

Labour’s second year in office will be politically charged. Important pieces of legislation will be brought forward and new policy will be developed and introduced. This represents an opportunity for organisations to engage in the policy making process and have their voices heard. If you would like to discuss how best to achieve cut-through in a busy political environment, please do get in touch with GK Strategy’s expert team of political strategists and government relations experts.

Making the most of party conference season

GK Strategy is pleased to share its guide to effective engagement with policymakers during party conference season.

Insight from the GK team on making the most of party conferences can be accessed here: https://gkstrategy.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Engaging-at-Party-Conference-Season-GK-Strategy-September-2025.pdf

How can agri-tech prepare for the next parliamentary term?

MPs might be on their summer break but what can you be doing to prepare for the next parliamentary term?

August in Westminster is a quieter time. Government grinds to a halt as MPs return home to continue business back in their elected constituencies. This downtime in the political calendar grants companies a rare breathing space – and the opportunity to turn attentions to resetting government relations plans and preparing for the parliamentary year ahead.

Before parliament returns on 1 September, businesses should be taking the time to think about how to best prepare for the government’s second year in office. Although parliament is in recess, there’s still plenty we can be getting on with to develop an effective strategy and work towards policy objectives. From strengthening stakeholder engagement strategies to assessing regulatory risk, the planning taken now will make the crucial difference between scrambling to adapt to policy announcements and confidently navigating the next wave of policy decisions.

So, what should businesses be thinking about during these summer months?

Engaging with the civil service

While parliament draws to a close over the summer, the civil service remains central to ensuring the smooth operation of public services. Officials continue to work on the implementation of government policies, running consultations, and preparing for the legislative activity that is set to resume in the autumn.

For businesses, the absence of parliamentary activity offers a valuable opportunity to take stock of their existing relationships with civil servants, assess the strength of those channels of communication and identify where they could be expanded. Civil servants tend to be a bit quieter over summer too, so it’s the perfect time to catch up over a coffee in preparation for the year ahead.

Monitoring Parliamentary Committees

Similarly to the civil service, parliamentary committees continue their business while MPs are away. Staff continue to work behind the scenes, launching calls for evidence and meeting businesses in their sectors of interest. In recent weeks, we’ve seen a flurry of committee activity affecting the agri-tech space.

The Science, Innovation and Technology Committee have launched an inquiry into innovation and global food security, actively seeking to hear from agri-tech businesses about how new agricultural practices can catalyse food production. Each Committee’s reports, which are written using the evidence submitted to the inquiry, land directly on ministers’ desks – offering businesses the space to communicate exactly what they need from government to succeed.

Can we also add the health one here? One of the focuses of the health one is healthy food and many of the agri-tech businesses focus on improving nutritional content e.g. precision breeding.

Preparing for Party Conferences

The annual party conferences mark a significant moment in the political calendar. Taking place over September and October, each conference allows parties to set their political agenda and rally support from members and industry. For Labour as the governing party, this means actively listening to and engaging with businesses of all sizes to better understand their priorities, concerns, and capacity to contribute to the party’s core objective of economic growth. With agri-tech flagged as a frontier industry within the government’s industrial strategy, the party conference will provide a useful avenue for businesses within the sector to raise their profile with government.

For opposition parties, conferences are a critical space for developing and refining alternative policies that can challenge the government’s agenda. Without the responsibility of running departments day-to-day, opposition parties can use this time to strategise ideas that could credibly form the backbone of their next election manifesto.

Meeting with MPs

Although MPs are back in their constituencies during recess, they are not on officially out of office. During this time MPs turn their attentions to local priorities, such as meeting constituents, visiting community projects and engaging with businesses in their area. Businesses, and especially those developing cutting edge agricultural technology, should think about inviting MPs to visit their sites to see first-hand innovation in the sector. Demonstrating tangible contributions to local employment, food security, environmental sustainability, or economic growth can help MPs see how your business aligns with their constituents’ interests and supports the government’s wider priorities.

Building and strengthening relations with MPs is at the core of effective political engagement. An MP who understands your business and believes in its potential can be a powerful advocate by championing your work in parliament or connecting you with relevant ministers and officials.

Although the political pace of the parliamentary summer recess might feel slower, this is no time for businesses to wind down. Whether through strengthening relationships with civil servants, preparing for the party conference season, or engaging directly with MPs in their constituencies, the weeks remaining weeks until 1 September grant businesses the time to reassess their political engagement. Using this time productively will enable businesses to position themselves as constructive partners to government, trusted to feed into the conversations that will shape Labour’s next year in office and beyond.