After years in opposition, Britain’s Labour Party senses it’s on the verge of regaining power

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Members of Britain’s opposition Labour Party are gathering for their annual conference with an unfamiliar feeling: optimism. The party has been out of power for 13 years and has suffered four straight national election defeats. But with an election due next year, polls put Labour as much as 20 points ahead of the governing Conservative Party. Labour also scored a morale-boosting special election victory in Scotland last week. Party leader Keir Starmer said the win was “a big step” back toward power. University of Manchester politics professor Rob Ford says the polls look good for Labour. But he cautions that voters remain “depressed and very skeptical” of all political parties.