Islington Council leader Una O’Halloran (centre) at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool

AS you may have heard, hope was in the air at the Albert Dock this year as the Labour horde descended on Liverpool once again, and not just because the slogan “HOPE AGAIN” was plastered on half the square inches available in the conference centre’s visual field.

The run-up to the Merseyside knees-up was punctuated by a fairly seismic pivot on Israel-Palestine from the foreign secretary and strong indications that the new PM has his eye on ending the reign of privatisation over Britain’s crucial infrastructure. The feeling on the ground was: must give a quick nod to stick-in-the-mud Starmer for that landslide but thank God someone more left-wing and vibey is here now.

Andy does indeed have vibes – he’s even wearing a T-shirt. And aside from having a bit more charisma than his predecessor, he also has the benefit of a successful run as mayor of Manchester and relatively little Westminster baggage – although readers may remember his attempt to close Whittington Hospital’s A&E wing in 2009 when he was health secretary.

Speaking to the Tribune in Liverpool, Islington Council leader Una O’Halloran said: “There’s definitely hope, you can feel it. It’s not just the Burnham bounce, it’s everything about it.”

“It feels like we’ve just won the election,” she said. “It’s a shame this wasn’t two years ago. I get it, 14 years of austerity and that, but it feels really great. It feels like Labour’s values are back. It feels like people are focusing more on all the things they’re hopeful to get started doing in the future rather than just focusing on what’s gone wrong in the past and all the horrible things there are to fix.”

Burnham’s speech – which left audience members in tears – promised a new era of Labour committed to untangling Thatcher’s Britain, with public services and public control at its centre. One of the address’s headline pledges was the creation of a universal adult social care service, free at the point of use. It will come at a cost, though: from 2030, the politically untouchable pensions triple-lock may be sacrificed in order to foot the bill.

Cllr Una O’Halloran with Alan Mulburn, Cllr Sheila Chapman and Heather Staff

Cllr O’Halloran called the social care proposals “really great”. “These things aren’t going to happen overnight, but at least if you’re on the right track, people will get behind it,” she said.

It’s all going to cost a pretty penny, and developing a new position on Israel will be a hard line to walk. The Tribune failed to catch Ed Miliband, who told pro-Palestine protesters they were right but is yet to de-proscribe Palestine Action. Even though we said we were from his local paper, he merely gave a smile and shouted “vote Labour!” as the lift doors slid shut.

We did manage a quick word with chancellor John Healey – check out our YouTube channel Peeps Online to see what he said – but other than that our luck on the ministerial doorstepping front was limited.

Beyond the doors of the ACC, Liverpudlians seemed equal parts optimistic and apathetic when we asked them if the new man in No 10 meant anything. An Evertonian who wants to nationalise and move power away from London is a promising prospect, but the failure of successive governments to follow through on commitments has left a hole of political disengagement in parts of the city, as it has across the country.

Back home in Islington, Labour councillors operate in a north London far less red than in previous years.

The 32-strong majority faces a substantial opposition of 19 Green councillors in the council chamber, and long-time Islington North indepen­dent Jeremy Corbyn has “gone very quiet”, according to Cllr O’Halloran.

“I’m not saying he’s not still a good local MP, he just feels, very, you know. I’d say I’ve got a good working relationship with him. I think he’s felt more bruised from the election than me,” she told the Tribune.

“I’ll always work with them both – Emily’s the one that’s always going to be at the forefront. If I need anything, she’ll go to government, she’ll get me in the right places.”

Islington South and Finsbury MP Dame Emily Thornberry, spotted DJing and on a string of panels at various points, was unable to sit down with the Tribune during the conference.

May’s council elections also shook up the political landscape of the Islington surrounds. Haringey and Hackney both saw their overwhelmingly Labour councils unseated by the Greens in a much more spectacular fashion.

“We have cross-borough [responsibility] for Finsbury Park with Hackney and Haringey. I think it’s really terrible – we’ve got all the parties that don’t want to use the word ASB [anti-social behaviour], don’t want police,” said Cllr O’Halloran. “Well, our residents and those businesses and other people are telling us: ‘We need that’.”

She added that arguing over terminology like ASB was “student politics”. “I’ve got no time for that.”