Will’s Word: Labour’s AGM over the weekend absolutely slapped

I've got to hand it to Labour, that Annual General Meeting (AGM) over the weekend absolutely slapped. My entire social media was red. There were videos, quotes, and shaky iPhone footage from the back row. It was honestly unavoidable.

Even at the laundromat yesterday morning, Barbara Edmonds was talking fiscal policy on the telly while my sheets were on the spin cycle. Honestly, it made me smile, because regardless of your politics, left, right, somewhere in the diplomatic no man's land in between, you can't deny there was something special about seeing, say, Carmel Sepuloni and Barbara Edmonds up on that stage.

Pacific women, holding two of some of the biggest roles in the country as part of the conversation, heck, leading the conversation. It's pride you don't have to force, it just happens, right? And good on Labour, because this AGM had an absolute vibe from the start.

It wasn't a defensive or apologetic AGM, but a “we're an excited political party” vibe. And from what I could see, you could feel it in the room. Even through the grainy Instagram stories I saw, it was hopeful politics, the kind we've been missing in recent years.

Don’t get me wrong, AGMs don't win elections, but they can set the tone, because they remind people why they cared in the first place. This weekend that just passed, Labour looked like a party that actually remembered who it was talking to.

Every day, families, workers, and communities are suffering and need support now. If this is the energy they're taking into 2026, then the race is going to be absolutely fun, competitive, and actually worth tuning in for.

So, credit where credit's due, Labour put on a good AGM. They looked united, energised and proud. That means something. Whether you vote or not.

That's Will's Word.

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