Reflections on Labour Party Conference

Earlier this week the Citypress team were at the Labour Party conference, supporting clients and meeting contacts. Here are their reflections on a busy three days.

Dom Pendry, Group Managing Director

Liverpool certainly lived up to its reputation as one of the wettest cities in the UK. You can plan an event down to the smallest detail, but there is no accounting for the vagaries of the north-west climate on the cusp of Autumn.

Whilst the weather can’t be helped, the party’s leadership also made a few choices which meant that the atmosphere was flatter than you’d expect for a party which just gained power for the first time in fourteen years.

Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have stuck to their line that the UK is in a grim economic state, and while the narrative espoused in some sections of the media that this was a conference dominated by doom and gloom has been overplayed, it is true that the messaging is starting to rub off on party members. The realisation of the responsibilities of power and the difficult choices ahead is setting in, especially for the record number of MPs in marginal seats.

In his speech, the Prime Minister tackled this head-on saying: “I understand many of the decisions we must take will be unpopular. If they were popular — they’d be easy.”

The difficulty is that, with Labour’s landslide victory being built on fairly shallow public support, there will be increasing nervousness among his party members, unions and his own MPs, if they have to wait too long for a more positive vision of the future to emerge.

 

Rory Fletcher, Senior Director

With thousands of businesses and lobbyists in attendance, cutting through is always a challenge. Often it takes a lot a lot of money – and stands in the prime spots don’t come cheap, or something creative that draws people to your stand.

Some of the smartest examples of lobbying were installations. Almost every conference attendee saw Octopus’ two-storey modular home built between the venues. But my personal favourite was the NFU’s tractor parked up outside the entrance to the main auditorium, providing great photo opportunities, while the Food and Drink Federation’s steady supply of members’ products meant their stand was never quiet.

You can also tell a lot about which sectors think they’re going to be bearing the brunt of forthcoming policy by looking at who is advertising, who has exhibitions and who is hosting events. Energy and housing dominated, with plenty of focus on decarbonising the built environment, transport and manufacturing. These sectors are at the heart of Labour’s missions and the energy transition is expected to be a red thread throughout the Government’s forthcoming industrial strategy. For businesses operating in these sectors, the months and years ahead promise plenty of challenges, as well as opportunities.

 

Tom Anelay, Head of Public Affairs

This was a conference with few big announcements. That created a communications void – one which was already full of rows about senior Labour politicians taking freebies. Although Labour MPs, including the Prime Minister, kept within the rules, it was clear that Labour members had the same reaction as the public: disappointment. After years of attacking Tory sleaze, there was a widespread view that it looked wrong and frustration at how the story hadn’t been shut down by the Government PR machine.

The row over freebies was made worse by the other big talking point at conference: austerity. You’ll be hard pressed to find a Labour party member who doesn’t think that the austerity measures implemented under George Osborne Chancellorship were wrong. This has led to plenty of confusion that the government’s rhetoric points to a tightening of the public purse strings. The row over winter fuel payments was also still rumbling on – with conference voting to reverse the cut in an embarrassing but non-binding vote organised by the unions.

All of this explains why the Prime Minister and Chancellor’s promises of “no return to austerity” were met by cautious applause. The pitch may be rolled for Rachel Reeves’ first Budget on October 30^th but the indications are that it isn’t one that will go down well with Labour’s grassroots. For now, No 10 are sticking to their guns. This is all part of the plan to set up a narrative of rags to riches that takes them through two terms in government. But at some point, they’re going to have to get a bit better at appeasing their membership and feeding the media machine if they don’t want their successes to be drowned out by noise.