On Tuesday afternoon in Liverpool, standing in front of an expectant crowd of Labour Party members and an eager press pack, Keir Starmer gave his first speech to the Labour Party Conference as Prime Minister.

His speech was not just an address to us, his newly-elected MPs, nor to the Labour Party members camped in front of television sets across the city and beyond.

Instead, he spoke directly to the country, setting out the priorities, pledges, and ambitions of the new Labour government.

His speech came at a crucial time for our country, for the challenges that we face together are vast.

We are all impatient for change, but there is no quick fix as we look to stabilise our economy and rebuild our public services after 14 years of decline under the Conservatives.

I am proud of the start that the new Labour government has made already in our first three months: from reforming our planning laws to launching Great British Energy, and from establishing a Border Security Command to legislating to end no-fault evictions.

However, many challenges remain, and, as we fix the foundations of our country so we can move towards the light at the end of the tunnel, the Prime Minister has asked for trust.

I know from my conversations here in Ipswich that, after years of false promises, trust in politicians, and in politics more widely, is low.

The Conservatives, both in Westminster and locally, spent more than a decade demanding people weather storm after storm, only to repeatedly fail to deliver their end of the bargain.

It is no secret that some tough decisions will have to be made, but unlike the previous government, the Labour Party will ensure that these trade-offs are deliberately weighted in favour of working people, who have consistently been promised so much, yet have gained so little over the last 14 years.

We are not seeking to simply turn back the clock to 2010 when Labour was last in government, before the erosion of our living standards and public services that we have suffered under the Conservatives.

We have set ourselves a much more ambitious task: to ensure the social fabric of this country is fundamentally and irreversibly centred on the hopes, dreams, and needs of working people here in Ipswich, Suffolk and beyond.

That is the instruction we received at the election; change.

Our mandate is to ensure that the ambition of every person is realised, no matter what their background.

That every child can go to school knowing that their dreams rely on their hard work and talent, not on predetermination.

That every person, especially the most vulnerable in our society, have a safe and homely roof over their heads.

That our public services, from our NHS to social care, and from the welfare state to our criminal justice system, are there to serve us all when we need them.

To achieve this, the Prime Minister promised to centre our government around Labour’s five missions, pledged before the General Election. Those missions remain unchanged - not despite the challenges we face, but because they are the only antidote to them.

This is a government that will not reach for the easy answers of populism, or the quick gratification of newspaper headlines.

As we embark on this mission of national renewal, I want to reiterate the promise Keir Starmer made on his very first day as Prime Minister: this is a government of service.

Steely in its determination, brave in its decision-making, and irreversibly dedicated to making life better for every single person in every single community right across this country.