For most of the last decade, it’s fair to say that the Scotland debate has not always been the biggest draw at Labour conference.

But after July’s election — a "political earthquake" says Anas Sarwar — there are enough MPs from north of the border to fill up a couple of rows in Liverpool’s cavernous ACC arena.

There are delegates here too. There is even cheering.

“Slightly noisier than last year,” Scottish Secretary Ian Murray says when he walks on stage.

It is as if nobody has told the Scots that this year’s conference is supposed to be gloomy.

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While Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves warn of tough times ahead, especially now they've committed to turning down freebies, Mr Sarwar uses his speech to tell the crowd he is “relentlessly positive” about the future.

“At the general election, we did half the job,” he says. “In 2026, it is our chance to finish the job by electing a Scottish Labour government that works for everyone in Scotland.

“And as we look towards the 2026 Scottish Parliament election I want to be clear: others might want to talk Scotland down, but I and all of Scottish Labour are relentlessly positive for the future of our country.

“Scotland’s best days lie ahead of us. Things can and they will get better.”

The contrast could not be more stark.

Last month, Sir Keir Starmer stood in Downing Street and warned us, “frankly, things will get worse before we get better."

It is a message the Prime Minister will emphasise when he speaks to the party faithful today. He will warn that the “national renewal” promised by his fledgling government will “be tough in the short-term.”

The Prime Minister will all but confirm tax hikes and spending cuts, telling delegates gathered in Liverpool that the “iron law of properly funding policies” cannot be ignored.

But, in a bid to temper the gloominess, he will say there is a “light at the end of this tunnel.”

There are, however, still questions over the length of the tunnel and just how far away the light is.

While there may still be four and a bit more years until the next general election, there are now, as Ian Murray reminded us in his speech, 590 days until the next Holyrood election.

Mr Sarwar will be hoping the light gets closer — in Scotland at least — before 7 May 2026.

Polling last week showed Labour had taken a hit after their July election high, down four points.

It is hard not to connect that — as the SNP did — to the decision to cut the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners.

Shortly before the start of the Scottish section, a small, but hardy group of protesters braced the torrential rain in Liverpool to protest the change from universalism to means testing.

Bill Lynch travelled down from Dundee to take. He told The Herald: “We understand perfectly there will be rich pensioners who don’t need the money. However, there are ways of mitigating this.”

He said to suggest that people just above the pension credit were doing well was “nonsense.”

“The test of a civilised society is how it treats its most vulnerable, and unfortunately in that metric, we are failing.”

Next month’s budget is expected to bring more gloom.

However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her speech to promise “no return to austerity.”

“Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services and for investment and growth too.

“Yes, we must deal with the Tory legacy and that means tough decisions but I won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain,” she said.

Earlier in a radio interview, she even said there would be “real-terms, increases to government spending in this parliament.”

However, when asked if some departments could face real-terms cuts, the Chancellor did not rule this out.

“What I’m saying is there will not be real-terms cuts to government spending, but the detailed department-by-department spending will be negotiated,” Ms Reeves said.

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In their speeches, Mr Sarwar and Mr Murray both repeated the Chancellor’s promise of no austerity.

They will be hoping that Scots remember that and not Sir Keir’s talk today of a “shared struggle.”

This, the Prime Minister will tell the conference, is a “project that says to everyone, this will be tough in the short-term, but in the long-term, it’s the right thing to do for our country.”

In his speech, Sir Keir will acknowledge that the country is “exhausted by and with politics.”

“I know that the cost-of-living crisis drew a veil over the joy and wonder in our lives and that people want respite and relief, and may even have voted Labour for that reason."

“Our project has not and never will change. I changed the Labour Party to restore it to the service of working people. And that is exactly what we will do for Britain. But I will not do it with easy answers. I will not do it with false hope.”

Another contrast.

Scottish Labour, Anas Sarwar told the conference, was the "party of change and hope."