Frank le Duc: The Vote

The Labour Party is in town but is it all just hot air or do members still have any power? Are these gatherings worth the bother?
Frank le Duc reports

As the Labour Party conference in Brighton draws to a close, it is worth reflecting on the value of what sometimes seems like a political circus. Critics say that the two main parties in particular have neutered their conferences so that dissenting voices are hushed or silenced. And that they no longer have the power to sway party policy.

For all the inconvenience that they inflict on the life of local people, is there any point even holding these events any more? The Greens, who gathered in Brighton less than a fortnight ago, are proud that their conference does set policy. It sets them apart, they said. And this year the Liberal Democrats in Glasgow appeared to have some genuine and heartfelt debates.

At least one Brighton Green councillor welcomed Labour’s arrival at the weekend. Geoffrey Bowden, chairman of the Brighton and Hove City Council Economic Development and Culture Committee, said: “Conferences are one of our city’s big industries and we put substantial effort and resources into attracting conference business, not to raise money for the council but to ensure a whole range of local businesses and residents benefit.

“The Labour Party conference is a high-profile event attracting national media coverage that helps sell the city to other conference organisers and bring in a steady supply of lower-profile but important events year on year.”

About 10,000 people were estimated to have attended the Labour conference. Few of them will have their hands on the levers of power or even party policy. But most will be putting their hands in their pockets, spending money in hotels, shops, bars and restaurants, especially those nearest to the Brighton Centre.

The party’s purpose? The leadership, in its broadest sense, may not want party members to dictate policy but they’d be daft not to listen to the voices of supporters. Those voices don’t always chime with voters – and the leadership will be trying to balance principles, sometimes competing principles, with electoral advantage. Put simply, if Labour doesn’t win power, it can’t implement its policies.

Instead the big parties treat the annual conference as a chance to rally the faithful. And it’s a glorified networking event. Campaign groups, lobbyists and charities get in on the act. And much still seems to rest on the leader’s speech. They are increasingly crafted with one eye on the audience and another on the wider public.

A successful conference will energise the party membership. This is vital in constituencies up and down the country if local parties are to have enough candidates to field in council elections, enough people to deliver leaflets and enough to canvass for votes. The Brighton and Hove Labour Party showed the benefit of having feet on the ground in the recent Hanover by-election when they won a seat from the Greens for the first time.

The tussle for Brighton Pavilion – a three-way fight for Green MP Caroline Lucas’s constituency – at the next general election will be a bigger test. Purna Sen, her Labour challenger, and Clarence Mitchell, for the Conservatives, will also need feet on the ground. And the party conference is part of the process of preparing for those contests. It’s where arguments are rehearsed, deals are done and alliances forged.

The value of the four-day Labour conference has been put at £15 million. That’s how much it is estimated has been spent with local businesses. But money aside, it’s worth much more. Some say that the role of the party conference has been devalued but they remain a shop window for those who prefer democracy to the alternatives. And when they take place in Brighton, they are a shop window for our city.