From the unveiling of a new Scottish MP to Sir Keir Starmer's speech delivered to a membership in high spirits and after shrugging off a protester, Labour will look back positively on their conference as the four day event drew to a close in Liverpool this afternoon.

Michael Shanks: The timing of the conference could not have been better for Labour, and in particular Scottish Labour, with the event starting just days after the party's by-election victory in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.

The Herald: Newly elected MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West Michael Shanks is hugged by deputy leader Angela Rayner during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Picture date: Monday October 9, 2023. Photo credit: Peter Byrne/PA Wire.

Mr Shanks, the new MP for the constituency, was certainly one of the stars of the show, not so much for what he had to say, though his speech introducing his boss Anas Sarwar, did receive considerable applause, but for his triumph in last Thursday's vote. Scotland’s newest MP received a standing ovation as he told delegates his victory showed there was nowhere in the UK the party can't win. Before making his first speech to a UK conference, Mr Shanks was cheered wildly in the main hall in Liverpool as the victor of last week’s by-election.

READ MORE: 'Scotland is watching' Starmer tells UK as he launches bid for power

Anas Sarwar: The Scottish Labour leader is now a familiar figure to members of the party across the UK - something which has not always been the case - and is regarded as the man who can help bring about a Labour government at Westminster and put the party on course for power in Holyrood.

The hall was packed out for his speech on Monday and at a fringe event on Tuesday on the fringe event he spoke at on what would seem quite a heavy weight subject of constitutional reform there were few, if any, seats left. A high note for the party faithful came when he told them Scottish Labour, which not so long ago feared elections, During his address, Mr Sarwar was now in a position to beat the SNP in seats “across Scotland”. He said: "No SNP MP can sit safely, taking their communities for granted as so many have."
 

Sir Keir Starmer: The Labour leader was literally left sparkling after a protester mounted the stage, grabbed him and through glitter over him. Press photographers were quick to catch the moment which will now go down in history when people recall Sir Keir's conference address in 2023 - which may well be the last one before the next general election.

The Herald: A protester throws glitter over Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer before his keynote speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. Picture date: Tuesday October 10, 2023. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire.

The Labour leader shrugged off what must have been a scary moment and delivered his address unshaken by the interruption. The speech itself was the key moment for the conference with Sir Keir giving the party faithful what they craved - a plan to topple the Conservative government and bring in policies that they believe will help tackle social, economic and health inequalities which have grown in Britain over the past 13 years.

Party members repeatedly got to their feet to show their appreciation to their leader including when he vowed to “break the stranglehold of Tory decline” and issued a direct appeal to moderate Conservative voters to back Labour at the next election. They cheered when he said he wanted Britain to “walk towards a decade of national renewal” and “face down the age of insecurity”. And they applauded when he appealed to Tory voters who “look in horror” as their party descends into the “murky waters of populism and conspiracy” to turn to Labour as the natural party of government.

READ MORE: Anas Sarwar: Scottish Labour can beat SNP at general election

Rachel Reeves: The shadow chancellor delivered her speech on Monday telling the party Labour will fight the next election on the economy and claiming she would be the “iron” chancellor who would help rebuild Britain after 13 years of Conservative rule. She set out  her vision of how  a Labour government would grow the economy “from the bottom up and the middle out” in the interests of working people.‘  In a significant coup for Labour -  Mark Carney, the former Bank of England governor who was appointed by the former Conservative chancellor George Osborne in 2013, endorsed Ms Reeves, saying it was “beyond time” her ideas were put into action.

The Herald: Rachel Reeves MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer gestures as she delivers a speech to party delegates on day two of the Labour Party conference on October 9, 2023 in Liverpool. Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images.

She told the packed audience in Liverpool that she intended to address them as Britain’s first female chancellor when they next met. “The post of chancellor of the exchequer has existed for 800 years. In that time, not one single woman has held that post,” she said. Her plan to create a powerful Covid corruption commissioner to help recoup about £2.6bn of taxpayers’ money that has been lost to waste, fraud and flawed contracts during the pandemic was a popular announcement inside the conference and received well by many people outside the party too.