TUC Congress 2026: Angela Rayner’s address to conference in full

Thank you, Steve. And thank you to Paul and the TUC for having me speak
here today.

I’m proud to give today’s address and I know you will want me to pass on your condolences to the Prime Minister on his loss.

It is a great honour to be back. I started my working life as a home carer, on casual hours. It was thanks to my union, UNISON, that I was able to improve life for myself, my family, and the fellow workers I went on to represent.

But it’s not just me who has benefited from the work of this movement. Millions upon millions of workers have.

From securing weekends and paid holidays, to equal pay for equal work, to the furlough scheme that kept millions afloat through the pandemic — trade unions have shown their worth time and time again.

The Labour Party was not simply born out of the trade union movement. We’ve grown up together – side by side. Our histories are shared. So are our futures.

Together we’ve served working people for generations. And together we must face the fight of the future too.

It’s been three years since I last had the great privilege of addressing this Congress, and what a rollercoaster those three years have been.

Back then we were on the eve of an era-defining general election. We sought a mandate to change Britain – and deliver for working people.

I promised an Employment Rights Bill within one hundred days. I lost count of how many times I was told that was impossible.

But we did it, and I want to thank all those in this room who helped craft it, who made the case for it – and who fought for it, so hard. Because we beat the odds together.

We created new rights for working people not just individually but collectively through their trade unions. Not in theory but out there in the real world, on the shop floor and in the workplace.

Statutory sick pay from day one.

New rights to paternity and parental leave.

The simplification of statutory recognition, which will mean more workers have the backing of a union behind them.

Stronger access and recognition rights…

…real protection against unfair dismissal…

…and safeguards from sexual harassment.

A Fair Work Agency with real teeth, to tackle bad practice.

And I’m proud its advisory board carries proper trade union representation in Mike Clancy, Diana Holland and Dave Ward.

That is just some of the difference Labour in power has made already.

The labour movement has always been a family to me. I know it’s not easy. Every family has its disagreements.

You will always push to go further and faster for your members – that’s your job.

But like a family, we stick together.

Make no mistake. Only Labour is the party of work. The clue is in the name.

Congress, you know Reform are not on your side. They voted against the Employment Rights Act, and if elected, they’d repeal it in a heartbeat — along with the Equality Act.

Think what that means.

Millions of workers, no longer protected from exploitative zero-hours contracts.

Millions of workers, back to waiting three days to be paid when they’re sick.

Millions of workers, who could be fired and rehired on worse terms and conditions.

This is about people’s lives. Our members’ lives.

And if you needed proof of whose side they are on, they have given it to us this weekend.

Nigel Farage’s sugar daddies made their money in crypto. But there’s nothing cryptic about their motives.

They know full well that a Reform government will act in their interests, not the public interest.

When these Reform donors say they want nothing – they mean it. No workers’ rights; no renters’ rights; no social protections, no safety net, no regulation.

Nothing to stand in their way.

And if Farage will do you a Cameo for seventy pounds, just ask yourself – what would he do for seventy million?

How dare they try to compare money from a couple of crypto billionaires to union members’ subs. The most highly regulated political funding we have could not be more different from a couple of off-shore billionaires trying to buy our democracy.

And I tell Nigel Farage – you can’t pay your way out of accountability to the people of this country. So let me be clear. We will defend our democracy and
society from any foreign dictator or fascist oligarch who seeks to divide our country and buy our politics.

But we will never undermine the rights of working people to organise collectively and democratically.

And the contrast between our parties is stark too.

This is a Labour government delivering for working people…

…four hundred thousand fewer people on NHS waiting lists, two thousand more GPs, buses and rail back into public ownership and control.

Plenty done. But so much more to do.

With Andy Burnham leading our party and government, we’re rewiring the state — and we’re doing it the Labour way.

Under a Prime Minister who has acknowledged that for too long our country has been heading in the wrong direction.

And who is committed to turning the tide on decades of neoliberalism.

Of deindustrialisation;

Of deregulation;

Of privatisation

And austerity.

Trickle-down economics has meant that people are losing faith in politics.

A race to the bottom where people see the cost of essentials going up.

And leaves vested interests to profit off back of the most vulnerable like in social care.

And who is responsible? The Tories. Half of them now sat on the Reform benches.

So I have been so glad to hear our Prime Minister talk about doing things the Labour way:

Putting power back into the workplace

Supporting our young people.

Putting pride back into our communities and bringing back hope.

But Congress, we will offer more than hope. People need change.

That is why I wanted to serve in government. I have unfinished business. And I won’t let this opportunity go to waste.

Building the homes we need, tackling rough sleeping and putting power back in the hands of people and their places.

A council housing revolution, breathing space in the costing of living crisis starting with bus fare caps and cuts to energy bills, new rights for renters and
leaseholders, and a rising National Minimum Wage.

And we will take our plan to Make Work Pay forward in full.

Banning exploitative zero-hours contracts, and delivering sector-wide agreements that promote fair pay and skills for school support staff and social care workers.

New access and organising rights for unions. Action on employment status. Better rights for parents and carers, and so much more.

We are pursuing a re-industrialisation strategy that protects and promotes our key industries, so they provide great jobs in every part of the country.

But here is no clearer example of this than what we are doing in social care.

In fact, I first met Andy when I was a care worker, campaigning with my union on Time to Care.

And as a former care worker myself, I have waited my whole life for a Prime Minister to speak about social care the way Andy has — understanding what care workers do, and the conditions they face.

I am so proud of the work this government is doing, and so energised by Andy’s commitment to do it – building on the Fair Pay Agreement framework.

Because Congress, the project to Make Work Pay is well underway.

We’ve started that work – and we’ll see it through in full.

There’s so much more to do to deliver Make Work Pay in full – but we’ll do it together because it’s how we deliver hope, how we make change.

Thank you, Congress.

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