Government Affairs Blog

Party conference review

Liberal Democrat Conference

The Liberal Democrat conference is always a tricky one – as the third party they are usually squeezed by the Tories and Labour – they do get media coverage but recently its been for the wrong reasons; their former Leader’s drinking problems and his consequent down fall dominating much news and broadcast media. This year’s conference, Ming Campbell’s first as party leader was an important one. The new Leader had to make his mark on party and country and set out his vision.  The party as a whole had to respond to David Cameron’s resurgent Conservatives. The conference did have a mature debate around tax – and the fringe events on the whole were thoughtful, Sir Menzies performed reasonably well in his key note speech, but a coherent picture of what makes the Liberal Democrats distinct from the other parties did not emerge. The Liberal Democrats don’t yet have a narrative.

But the real star of the conference was not the new Leader of the Liberal Democrats, but the  new Leader of the Conservatives. On the conference floor and in the bars and fringe events Mr Cameron was repeatedly attacked. The Liberal Democrats are rattled by Cameron and they will be thinking long and hard about what direction they need to take to counter the Tory threat.

On a more positive note the party is engaging in a  number of policy reviews – so this is the time to try and influence the future direction of Liberal Democrat party policy.

Joke of the conference: What is the difference between Cameron and Thatcher ? Answer: Three election losses.

Labour Conference

A Blairite minister said before conference that she was dreading Manchester; and that she feared it could be a bloodbath; the Party desperate to get rid of Tony Blair and The Prime Minister determined to hang on. There would be briefing and counter briefing and the party faced the abyss.  As it turned out  the party looked into the abyss and decided it really did not want to go there. The Chancellor’s Monday speech, passionate, but workaday, did not inspire but it did not fall flat either. Brown needed to be humble, visionary and statesmanlike and he largely achieved that .  His speech was somewhat overshadowed by Cherie’s alleged outburst, and conference talk in the bars was that she probably had said it but you could forgive her, she was just defending her man!

He was followed the next day by Tony Blair.  Blair could have come on stage and read out the phone book and got a standing ovation. However his speech was probably the best he has ever given and had quite a few members of the audience in tears. A minister told me that he was sobbing at the end!  Much of the party were asking afterwards “what have we done ?” and a Tory lobbyist gave a huge sigh of relief  at  Blair’s last speech. 

The speech brought together the party and whatever feuds there had been, have, at least for the next 6 months, been put to rest. But there remains the issue as to who will lead the Party. A political journalist said that  last year he used to write “WHEN Brown becomes leader and PM”, now he writes “IF Brown becomes Leader and PM”, But as one Minister said, if somebody stands against him they will have to consider in whose interests they are standing;  their own, the party’s or the country’s.

Conference joke : The PM telling conference that at least he did not have to worry about the wife running off with the bloke next door.

Conservative Conference

The conference was the first test for David Cameron. A new logo and a new liberal Conservative compassion were intended to engulf conference and send out a message to the voter – the Tories have changed.  There were two conferences this year. The conference floor, liberal, modern and young , and the conference bars and fringe events, where the older, more traditional Tory was very much in evidence. The number of `Tax cuts now’ stickers was high amongst the delegates. This dissonance between what the party thinks and what the Leadership says is striking and Cameron’s job is to try and persuade his party that liberal conservatism is where it is at. He runs the risk of alienating much of his party and many Tory voters.  The fringe events and bar chatter is that the party likes to be ahead in the polls, but can they have their old policies back please.  Cameron says no and he resists the calls for policy detail. 

Instead the party has a number of policy commissions which people are asked to contribute to. This could be your chance to shape the policies of the next Government; and whose to say that they are not serious about policy change, after all few would have predicted the focus that party Leadership is now making on public services, or green issues. 

Conference joke: Boris Johnson.

Summing up:

After three gruelling weeks most public affairs professionals are now back at their desks considering how they need to respond to the debates and the policy positions.  Given where we are at in the political cycle, there are some who say that they are not interested in the two opposition parties this far away from a general election. But that would be wrong, all parties are renewing themselves. The parties are seeking policy options for the challenges ahead and public affairs pros are in great position today to influence those policies.  Now is the time to get your ideas lodged and considered.

 Conference winner: It’s the bars stupid.