The party conferences 2010 - by Sam Dowling

O Come All Ye Faithful...

The party political conferences are something of an acquired taste: three weeks of intrigue, gossip, fascinating insights, self indulgent rambles in airless auditoriums and sauna-like marquees. Some listening. And lots and lots of talk.

The conferences provide an opportunity for the rank and file to meet, challenge and praise their leaders and even be inspired by them. To set the world to rights with kindred spirits over warm white wine, small fried delicacies and mystery sandwiches, but above all, to remind themselves why they pound the streets in all weathers or spend entire weekends stuffing envelopes.

And for us the conferences provided an opportunity to look at how we are doing eight years on from the creation of ACF, six years since the launch of Futurebuilders, and a year since the creation of The Social Investment Business.

It was all yellow

This year's round of conferences began with the Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool, marking the first Liberal Democrat coalition Government since David Lloyd George’s coalition of 1916. Long regarded by political journalists, lobbyists and others as the warm up to the two main conferences Labour and Conservative, this was the first Liberal Democrat conference, some said, that anyone was paying attention to. 

With more delegates, more journalists and more lobbyists in attendance than ever before, the Liverpool Liberal Democrat conference was buzzing. With the exception of a couple of trade union led protests outside the secure area of the conference centre, the week was fairly uneventful.  And to the surprise of many, the activists remained steady and supportive, though there were hints of dissent to come if the next 12 months in power don’t go well.

Mirroring the style of the two larger parties, this year’s conference was far more stage managed. Gone the days of fevered arguments about the nationalisation of the railways and the post office network. Instead, a steady, if slightly uncomfortable, commitment to the coalition agreement. Party faithful appeared willing to give their Leader the benefit of the doubt, though there were mild concerns voiced about the direction the party is heading and the associated value-shift.

Speaking at our fringe immediately after his speech to conference, Vice Chair of the party, Simon Hughes MP, said that there was a need for unity and faith and urged people to look beyond the language used to describe what the Government was doing and think about the outcomes that were being worked toward. Mr Hughes also highlighted the importance of communities working together to improve their circumstances and underlined the point that with spending cuts looming, there was a need to do more with less.

A tricky week for Liberal Democrat Leader and Deputy Prime Minister Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP to manage, he was given a warm reception when he spoke on the second day of the conference, where he warned that the coming months would see cuts and difficult decisions, but that the coalition would weather the storm. Read his speech here and our response here.

Simply red

Post election conferences tend to be miserable affairs for the losers, and there was a muted feel to this year’s Labour Party Conference, despite the election of a new Leader and the presence of 67 new Labour MPs, many young and keen to make an impression on the new leader.

Fewer hangers on and fewer party members, presumably exhausted after a busy yet ultimately unsuccessful election campaign, meant that those who did attend rattled around the huge GMex Centre and spent hours dissecting what could have been done differently.

Surprise at the election of “the wrong Miliband” was the topic du jour for many following the announcement that Ed Miliband, younger, less well known, and more left wing brother to ex Foreign Secretary David Miliband, had been elected Leader of the Labour Party (a paper produced by the House of Commons Library looking at previous leadership elections and giving the results of the most recent vote can be seen here). This was closely followed by a dissection of the decision of his older brother David to retire from front bench politics for a time to spend more time with his family/lick his wounds. Meanwhile, Ed the younger delivered if not a barnstorming speech, then a good one to the party faithful in Manchester and was rewarded with a rousing round of applause and (unsurprisingly) a standing ovation. This despite his commitment to support cuts where he thought they were necessary, and to move away from opposing government for the sake of it. You can read his speech here and our response here.

Our Labour event was well attended with some feisty questions from the audience, who wanted to know what proof there was that the Big Society project would be delivered effectively and who quizzed the panel on their expectations for the cuts anticipated in the Comprehensive Spending Review. You can see our twitter-feed of the lively debate that took place during the fringe event here.

True Blue

In the wake of their electoral victory in May, the Conservatives were resolutely focused on steering a policy course between wholesale public spending cuts and tax breaks, and encouraging and supporting a more cohesive, engaged civil or “Big” society. Despite missives that there was no champagne to be drunk during their week in Birmingham and that party members were to refrain from their usual sport of Liberal bashing since the creation of the coalition government in May, both activities were common, and engaged in with glee by grassroots members who have been counting the days since May 1997.

After an unusual start to proceedings involving a troupe of Bollywood dancers, controversial plans to scrap child benefit and amend welfare benefits across the board generated huge interest following Chancellor Rt Hon George Osborne MPs speech. Though detailed Treasury plans for public spending reform are not expected to be revealed until the Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October, his speech paved the way for cuts, using the week to make the case once again for spending less, fast.

Closing the week-long conference and speaking to his party for the first time as Prime Minister, Rt Hon David Cameron MP delivered a rousing speech reminiscent of Churchill. To all present, including his 148 newly elected Conservative MPs, he urged “We need to change the way we think about ourselves, and our role in society. Your country needs you!”. Our response to his speech can be seen here.

It was with all of this in mind that Rt Hon Frances Maude MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office, spoke at our fringe meeting on the Tuesday of conference, where he reaffirmed his commitment to delivering the vision of a Big Society through empowered citizens and citizen organizers, who will coordinate the voluntary activities of engaged citizens. Despite some skepticism from the audience, the panel Chaired by Guardian journalist Polly Toynbee, gave a robust defense to public engagement and the reshaping of public service delivery, albeit with different opinions about the involvement of the state in the process! You can listen to the audio of the session, run in partnership with the RSA, here.

We are also working with the ResPublica think tank to look at barriers preventing civil society organisations winning and delivering public sector contracts, and the ongoing challenges presented by the current commissioning environment. We welcome many of the conclusions in their new report “The Civil Effect” and our Chair, Stephen Bubb, spoke alongside ResPublica Director Philip Blond, report author Asheem Singh and MPs Clare Perry and David Burrowes during a lively event on the Tuesday evening of Conservative conference.

Sing a Rainbow…

All in all, the mood during this year’s political conference season was a little mixed (up). Liberal Democrat MPs attended Conservative conference in Birmingham, Conservatives MPs attended Liberal Democrat conference in Liverpool, the Labour Party came to terms with its place in the new world order, and everyone took their starting places for the Comprehensive Spending Review on 20 October.

Whilst the coalition seems set to last (for now) it is clear that there are trying times ahead with free votes looming on education spending and Trident.

There is a sense that Westminster is holding its breath, but with only a few days to go until announcements covering the next four years of Government activity, there’s a lot of sighing to come.

Expect lots of reports of “unavoidable spending cuts” and more news on reforms to education, health, and transport.