Starmer has eye on the election prize as Labour heads to conference

There's confidence in the party that the political wing of the British people' can beat an unpopular government

When Keir Starmer picked up his pen during the summer recess to begin drafting his conference speech, there was no way of knowing who his opponent would be by the time he would have finished it.

His target for the past 12 months had been Boris Johnson. Now that he is gone, it will be the first year the Labour leader feels confident enough to talk realistically about being prime minister within two years.