Chelgate articles

Two years ago, the Conservatives held their first annual party conference for many years in a big city – and it seemed a very different conference.

As one MP put it: “Birmingham is full of twenty something earnest young men in black suits with iphones growing out of their ears. Gone are the faithful association members with their happy smiles, warm wishes and plastic bags.”

It wasn’t just the cost of hotels in big cities that deterred many ordinary party members. It was also the first conference in over a decade when a return to power for the Conservative Party looked more likely than not. This attracted many who suddenly saw the party’s views as very relevant.

This pattern has been repeated for all the main parties since then. Now that the Liberal Democrats are in government, no one seeking to understand or influence the Coalition could afford to miss the party’s annual conference in Liverpool.

Rather as when a football team moves from its run down old ground to a major new stadium, it can feel as though the old atmosphere has gone. Now at each conference, the atmosphere is as much or more dictated by the media and lobbyists present as by ordinary party members. Are public affairs professionals and their clients, then, at risk of talking mainly to each other?

While this danger exists, the fact remains that the annual party conference season offers a unique opportunity for public affairs consultancies and bodies – and for any clients with a reason to care what is happening in the political and policy worlds.

At any conference, there remain thousands of party members: usually the most involved, dedicated and connected. Their finger is on the pulse of their parties. By taking in the atmosphere – and more importantly the actual conversations – of a party conference, one can understand where tensions exist, and better identify when media hype about such tensions is just that.

But the conference is not only a convention for members. Frontbenchers and backbenchers, special advisors and parliamentary researchers, council leaders and portfolio holders are all present and available in one small area, unknown any other time of year. This is a time to establish links and contacts and to build on them – to get a message across to key influencers and to arrange follow ups.

Conference remains an unmissable opportunity to get the message across. The process of influencing political change is most likely to happen – indeed, is only likely to happen at all - through a proper knowledge of the political environment. This means understanding the pressures on politicians and their staff, engaging with them and hearing their genuinely felt objections. No single week of the year offers a better chance to do this than a party’s annual conference.