Steve Rotheram welcomes conference to Liverpool – his speech in full

Conference, welcome to Liverpool!

It is an absolutely brilliant opportunity to have you back here in this most vibrant of cities.

It’s becoming so frequent that we’ve got tens of thousands of delegates, journalists, lobbyists, advisers, politicians wandering around with lanyards on and nobody bats an eyelid.

Around here, it’s just another September when Labour comes to town.

But don’t worry, we’ll never take you for granted.

We love having you here, so we’ve hoovered the carpet, we’ve fluffed the cushions and we’ve got the kettle on for you.

But genuinely, on behalf of the whole of the Liverpool City Region and its leaders, there really is nowhere like this place.

This is a city that gave the world the Beatles – but we don’t like to talk about that. Two Premier League football clubs – one of which the PM has told me I’m contractually obliged not to talk about. And we now have two Prime Ministers – and no pressure Andy, but Gladstone was four times Prime Minister!

Liverpool has always been a city with something to say, so you lot should feel particularly at home!

We’re outward-looking, internationalists and we’re fiercely proud of who we are.

A city built by people from every corner of the world – with the oldest Chinese community in Europe, Britain’s first Mosque and a diversity of people for centuries living side by side in harmony.

A place with culture and creativity running through its veins.

But above all, Liverpool is about its people. Warm, funny, generous, occasionally opinionated?

So there’s always something extra special about welcoming our movement to my home city.

Look, I’ve had the enormous privilege of representing this place, both in Parliament and now as Metro Mayor, so I know the difficulties it has been through.

But I also know what it is capable of and I genuinely don’t think there’s been a more exciting time for our region in my lifetime.

You can feel a confidence returning. See cranes on the skyline, new industries arriving, new homes being built.

A transport revolution on our doorstep and a region increasingly taking control of its own future.

Which is why I think there is something particularly fitting about Labour gathering here this year.

For starters, an Evertonian is now Prime Minister. But just like buses, with Mark Carney two come along at the same time.

So Andy, and Mark if you are listening, welcome to the city with the best football club in the world. Look, I’m not saying which one. I’m contractually obliged not to.

But isn’t it great to have a Prime Minister who really understands things like devolution from the inside.

Those of us interested in it have been making the case for years that if you trust places with power and resources, people from those places can do incredibly good things and do them differently than a national government – collectively, strategically better.

We’ve now got the opportunity to prove it on a completely different scale, and here in Liverpool, we’re not hanging about.

We’ve already bought half a billion pounds worth of new trains owned by us, the public.

But we’re also rolling back other Thatcherite policies too. And when the likes of the Tories in Reform, the Tories in Restore, or even the few Tories that are left in the Tories, when they try to tell me that this harks back to the bygone days of the eighties, they are right aren’t they? It demonstrates the point.

We’ve had to put up with failed policy after failed policy for 40 odd years, and now because of devolution, we are changing that.

We’ve just set out plans to bring Merseyrail back into full public ownership. And a few weeks ago, just like a place down the road, we started taking our buses back under public control too.

You really can’t really miss them, they’re bright yellow, and people can literally see change coming down their street.

But buses and trains aren’t the only part of the story. On Tuesday, we launched our new Ferry Cross the Mersey. The first new vessel in 60 years – and yes, it’s boss.

The best part of it though is it was built on the banks of the mighty River Mersey by Cammell Laird, and hundreds of apprentices and skilled workers delivered a vessel that generations of people will enjoy for decades to come.

And now buses, trains, ferries all operate over a joined-up network designed around passengers, not shareholders.

And that’s devolution for me in a nutshell – making sure people can actually see, use and feel real change in their everyday lives.

The same is true of housing. I grew up in a council house, so when Andy and Angela say they want to lead the biggest revival of council and social housebuilding in decades, I want the Liverpool City Region right at the front of the queue.

Proper council homes. Homes for young families who want to put down roots.

And that’s why this partnership between Labour in Government and Labour in our towns, cities and regions is so important. National government setting a direction, putting resources behind it and then trusting local leaders to deliver.

It’s about giving communities more control over their own destiny. It is about rebuilding an economy that works in every part of the country.

And it is about making sure that whether you were born in Kirkby, Kettering, Kennington or Keighley, you’ve got a fair chance to succeed.

There is now an opportunity to do something genuinely transformative. To take the lessons learned from Mayors like Sadiq, Tracy, Oliver, David, Claire, Richard, Kim, Helen and now Bev, and apply them across the country.

To rebuild British industry. To build the skilled workforces we need. To put essential public services back in the service of the public.

To give places the tools to create jobs, grow businesses and build their own prosperity. And to prove that devolution isn’t about shifting money around Britain. It’s about growing Britain by allowing every part of it to fulfil its potential.

Britain succeeds when the likes of Liverpool succeeds. When Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast succeed too, with towns, cities and rural communities in every part of the country given the devo chance.

And I think Liverpool is a pretty good place from which to start.

Because this city has been knocked down plenty of times in its history. We are the Chumbawumba of UK cities – and I know that’s not a particularly contemporary reference, but the younger ones will deffo have heard the song and the older ones will have danced to it badly.

We’re proud of our past, but we’re much more interested in what comes next. And we know what’s coming next because it’s us who are writing the next chapter in a story of solidarity, of fight, of innovation, of culture, of reinvention, and of growth.

You can see it on our waterfront and city scape, which provides an incredible backdrop for this Party Conference.

You can see it in our transport network. You can see it in regeneration projects right the way across our region. You can see it in our universities, our businesses and the new industries, choosing to invest here.

You can see it in our renaissance. And, most importantly, you can feel that sense of optimism – something that has been in short supply for far too long.

But there is hope again.

So over the next few days, enjoy the debates, the speeches, the fringe events, the hecklers, but also enjoy this city.

Feel free to spend as much as you want in our bars and restaurants. Do, please! Get out beyond the conference zone if you can. Talk to people. Feel the spirit.

And just in case anyone asks you whether Liverpool, Manchester or somewhere else is the real capital of the North, remember who’s hosting you in 2027 because I think I’m getting the power to revoke visas for people, so just be careful.

Look, this is an opportunity to make sure people in every part of the country can see the difference Labour in power is making.

Welcome to Liverpool, welcome to the Liverpool City Region, and welcome to the Labour Party Conference 2026.

READ MORE: Labour Party Conference 2026: Full LabourList events programme, revealed

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