"Something else I’ve learnt. It’s about a Party’s character. I’ll give you two examples.
"Dennis Skinner. Watching from his sick bed. Get well soon. Never agreed with a policy I’ve had. Never once stopped him knowing the difference between a Labour Government and a Tory one.
"People like Janet Anderson, George Howarth, Mike Hall. Good Ministers, but I asked them to make way. They did. Without a word of bitterness. They never forgot their principles when in office; and they never discovered them when they left office.
"This is the Party I am proud to lead."
Final Speech to the Labour Party Conference, Manchester, 2006
