Keir Starmer speaks as he hosts representatives of the Civil Nuclear industry at a reception at Lancaster House in London, Monday, Sept. 15, 2025

Keir Starmer is unlikely to be looking forward to this year’s Labour party conference in Liverpool.

As he and his top team have been hunkering down over the last few days to prepare for the prime minister’s speech on Tuesday, they’ll probably be wondering just how to address all of the problems this government has faced – while still, somehow, striking a note of optimism.

Insiders told HuffPost UK that they see conference as a means to start again for the government – but there are several obstacles which Starmer will find rather tricky to navigate over the four-day Liverpool event.

As the PM prepares to come face-to-face with the party faithful, here’s what you need to know.

1. Leadership challenge from Andy Burnham

The Labour mayor of Greater Manchester has tried to steal the spotlight in the days leading up to the annual gathering.

He claims MPs within the party have encouraged him to run for the top job, accused Downing Street of creating a “climate of fear” and claimed “wholesale change” was needed to see off an “existential” threat to the party.

While this painfully obvious challenge to Starmer’s leadership has also caused frustration among some Labour MPs, Burnham’s intervention is not exactly ideal days before he tries to rally disillusioned party members at conference.

2. Calls for the scrapping of the two-child........

© HuffPost