Kevin Foster was the MP for Torbay between 2015 and 2024 and is a former Deputy Leader of Coventry City Council.
Before heading up to Manchester for Conference I was on the bus to Salisbury for a Torquay United away day.
It’s a bit like conference, lots of talk on the coach about recent performances, a couple of key players returning and how the manager is getting on. Once at the ground I caught up with the Club Chairman (Who was in the stands), had a quick bite to eat and then watched the main event.
Some away grounds have a vibrant and noisy atmosphere, but others don’t, prompting Gulls Fans to strike up the drum and chant “Duh, Duh, Duh, It’s football in a library.” This chant sadly feeling too relevant for the Conference Hall experience during the first 3 days in Manchester.
There was plenty of buzz in places at Manchester and the Leader’s speech was standing room only.
I spent a lot of time standing at packed receptions, events and fringe meetings, yet the main conference hall too often had a library atmosphere. Conference organisers must address this to deal with the resulting poor media coverage caused by rows of empty seats.
The first challenge is how you persuade members of the party, who have probably spent the thick end of £1,000 to be at Conference, this is where they want to be. This year’s layout, with many sat far back from the stage, made it feel more like watching it on the telly than a live event. Leaving many delegates deciding to do just that, with scores of seats empty for key moments.
The main hall layout needs to make you feel part of the proceedings, involved in the action on the pitch, part of the team. If not then the chance to catch up with friends, visit stalls and attend a fringe event will be more appealing.
Substance counts. There was plenty of it, but performance is key to attracting a crowd. There were some good examples: Robert Jenrick using a judge’s wig as a visible prop for a packed conference hall. The defence team having a Northern Ireland veteran on stage for a powerful session. The standing ovation for Jack Lopresti and a Ukrainian Solider during Priti Patel’s slot. In each instance teams had thought through how to make it an event, not just a speech, in the conference hall.
The award for best thought-out pitch must go to Victoria Atkins. Rather than stand at the lectern and read a speech out, she held a packed rally in front of a tractor in the exhibition hall to denounce the family farm tax and Labour’s record. All that was missing was her arriving hanging off the tractor, with Jeremy Clarkson driving it, to make it an event you did not want to miss!
Sadly, it’s back to comms school for our education team. Laura Trott’s speech had some good substance, yet the sparsely attended hall had all the atmosphere of her delivering it in the Reference Section of Sevenoaks Public Library. The location of the teleprompt screens in the conference hall meant you could visibly see her eyes moving to look at them and away from the camera\audience. Laura’s a decent member of the team, she has a good mind, but her team was not on their game.
During the conference there were a few comments about Andrea Jenkyn’s song and did we really want fireworks being set off or to copy Ed Davey’s vacuous stunts simply to get a few more spectators. Yet great substance does need good delivery to pull in the crowds and ensure our message is heard widely.
However, there is one thing we must address to have the full conference halls of old: How can we make it easier for party members to attend conference?
When in Government lobbyists, campaign groups and businesses will fill the building, often with all costs going on a corporate credit card. What we need back are the type of party member who loved coming to conference to see the stars of our party and filled the conference hall daily to do so.
Regional conferences do this well.
The South West Conservatives Annual Conference was packed. A recent South West Policy Conference expanded capacity twice such was the demand from members to attend. These were focussed events, with a ticket price that acted as a package deal including lunch and tea\coffee, plus a discount scheme for Young Conservatives.
How could this be replicated nationally?
Length of conference also has a big impact. The leader’s speech is on the last morning, often prompting members to not attend the first day of conference, resulting in empty seats headlines.
Do we need to stick with the 4-day structure? A bigger 3-day rally, held mostly over a weekend, would remove the need for many members to take 3 days off work to do the whole event. Imagine if we then held the Leader’s speech on the second day, all timed to dominate the Sunday political shows beforehand.
We must make the Conservative Party Conference Hall the away game our fans don’t want to miss.
