A tale of three conferences

— Lobbyists are prepping to love bomb the Lib Dems in Brighton leaving the Tories fumbling for friends.
— Management pros are offering free training for MPs to improve Westminster’s dodgy work environment.
— New government, same old broken promises on standards?
**A message from bp: Charging up and drilling down. While today we’re mostly in oil & gas, we’re also working to roll out EV charging, like our 180 bay public hub at the NEC in Birmingham. And, not or – that’s our approach. See how bp is backing Britain.**
CONFERENCE CURSE: Are you rested? Hopefully, because the boulder is nearing the foothills, and the Sisyphean ritual of party conference prep has begun once again.
New world: Drink reception invites are landing, fringe events are being finalized, and for the first time in many years, that awkward conversation lull at the summer networking bash is being broken by a new question … “So, who is going to the Lib Dems?”
Shifting sands: The party’s election success has certainly garnered more outside interest — and lobbying pros are increasingly convinced the Lib Dems might actually outperform the Tories when it comes to both business interest and spend this conference season.
Think about that for a sec … We might be increasingly immune to bonkers moments in British politics, but the Tories are still the official opposition. Falling behind the Lib Dems in the conference league tables would be a big deal — even if their second place battle is happening in the shadow of a potentially historic Labour gloat fest in Liverpool.
Rock bottom: “The Conservatives clearly now face a long hard climb back to power,” said Paul Harrison, chair and executive director of Lexington Advisory and former No. 10 Downing Street press secretary. “As a much smaller group of MPs adjusts to being in opposition, and in part because their new leader won’t actually have been chosen by the time of this year’s conference, Birmingham is likely to be less well-attended by corporates that in previous years.”
Tory trauma: Other industry insiders are privately more scathing, with one agency veteran telling Influence that while “four days of Tory self-flagellation” might be amusing to witness up close, it’s not an attractive proposition for their clients.
Fair point: “[Our clients] can see for themselves that spending resources engaging with a shadow minister who might be out of a job the following month is barmy,” they added.
Cruel world: That exodus, according to the Guardian, could see business attendance in Birmingham fall below levels seen at Labour conferences under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
Hoisted by their own lanyards: Even key sponsors are opting out, with Samuel Cunningham — whose firm PoliMonitor sponsored the lanyards at Sunak’s last bash — telling Influence they are “ditching Tory conference and jumping on the Brighton bandwagon” instead.
But they aren’t alone: Because plenty of business leaders are realizing there is going to be more to Lib Dem conference this year than karaoke.
Back in business: “Lib Dem conference is relevant again for the first time in a decade from a policy-making sense,” said Josh Harvey, associate vice president at Crestview Strategy.
But he cautions: “It won’t be the same as the Coalition era — this is not an opportunity to influence government policy directly as it was in 2010-15, even though the party has more MPs than it did then.”
Rewind: The best comparison then, is the post-2015 season, reckons Atticus Partners director Matthew Sutton. That’s when bemused lobbyists were forced to trudge up to Scotland to get under the hood of the SNP after they suddenly became Westminster’s third largest party.
No brainer: “If your business can be impacted by what happens in parliament, which is all businesses, then it’s important you work to eliminate any blind spots,” Sutton said. “If you are not engaging with the Lib Dems, you potentially have 72 blind spots.”
Target rich environment: The pair says engagement efforts are especially vital in health and environment policy where the party has secured top scrutiny roles.
Most wanted: “These are core areas of Lib Dem policy for both working constructively and challenging the government,” Harvey says. “They’ve secured the chairmanships of those select committees and the identity of these chairs will be known by conference.”
And more: The same goes for the decarbonization agenda and utilities regulation, where Harrison says the Lib Dems are arguably already exerting the most influence on the government’s thinking. Expect the party’s local campaigning prowess to draw in the built environment sector, eager to build up connections in anticipation of the party snagging control of major councils in next year’s local elections.
Davey’s deluge: The whole thing’s been a big shock for party staff too, who back in May were quietly fretting an imminent election would torpedo interest in their conference.
Performance anxiety: “We thought the election might be called during conference or immediately after,” said Chris Maines, a directly elected member of the party’s conference committee. “Would people come? Would staff be able to handle it and then go straight into a campaign? Would members want to come when there is a campaign about to happen.”
Hot ticket: Instead, there has been a post-poll surge of interest. Maines says the Lib Dems have faced a “really difficult” time trying to snap up extra space for fringe events and exhibition stalls to meet demand. Talk about a nice problem to have …
It’s nice to be wanted: “Our business day is on the Monday, and I think the venue has been rearranged three times now as it keeps growing and growing … People just want to hear what we’ve got to say,” he adds.
Moths to a flame: While good vibes are assured, Maines reckons the big draw for the lobbying crowd is a chance to “set out their stalls” to a diverse group of new MPs during a conference where the party’s policy agenda is set through a process of “genuine” debate.
Word of warning: While the Lib Dems may be “open to persuasion in many respects,” Maines insists it’s a two-way street. Lib Dem members will be more than willing to argue the toss with weekend warriors … So you’d better bring your A-game.
But but but: Hold off on cancelling those Birmingham travel plans for a moment, because industry pros reckon putting boots on the ground at all three conferences might be the smartest play. Take a moment, have a wee cry.
Under duress: “What I am finding is a lot of clients are locked into events they booked pre-election, which are now difficult to come out of,” says Mitchell Cohen, head of public affairs at Lansons. “So there will likely be some interesting fringes, but not a huge amount of people attending.”
Opportunity knocks: Unshackled from the burden of power, Tory former ministers, select committee chairs and APPG big wigs will be more accessible, more candid and more willing to cross the iron curtain to meet the phalanxes of folk who can’t get a refund on their hotels but aren’t willing to pay for a four-day conference pass. And there are still plenty of Tory MPs whose policy expertise could be crucial to a cause or campaign once the party knuckles down under new management.
For instance … Andy Twelves, media relations and public affairs officer at the BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, says his outfit has a “responsibility” to engage cross-party, even if the Tories appear to be in “disarray” as they transition into opposition. “When you have stalwarts like [Shadow Science and Tech Secretary] Andrew Griffith, who will most likely remain in post within the shadow cabinet regardless of leader, it makes no sense for us to ignore them,” he adds.
The key message: Scale back your presence? Fine. Cut your trip short? Sensible. Ditch it entirely? Only at your peril.
Long Con: “MPs always remember who pays attention to them in opposition,” says Atalanta chief exec Elizabeth Ames. “It can be a good investment in the future, even if that feels far off at the moment.”
LEADERSHIP LESSONS: MPs being forced to act as the de facto boss of a small team of staff has been blamed for all kinds of scandals — so the new crop of legislators is being offered a bit of help.
Freebies: The Chartered Management Institute is offering up a “starter pack” for all the greenhorns to help them navigate those choppy management waters. It includes a diagnostic tool to figure out strengths, and a free year’s membership to the CMI to develop skills. You’ve got no excuses now, MPs.
WORTH A READ: This City AM piece from Overton Advisory’s Michael Martins who is getting a bit sick of lobbyists and their sickly LinkedIn posts about Labour’s awesome pro-business stance … despite very little in terms of actual post-victory progress.
WHAT ABOUT ANOTHER CONFERENCE? Don’t stress, this one ain’t until November 21. But PR industry body the CIPR announced this week they’ve snagged some big names to address their annual gathering, including legendary newsman Clive Myrie, wonk hall of famer Hannah White, and Juergen Mairer, the newly appointed chair of GB Energy.
Book early, book often: Early bird tickets are up for grabs here. See ya there.
IT’S THE HOPE THAT KILLS YOU: Remember Labour’s massive promises to treat ethics and transparency reform as a day one priority? Apparently they don’t.
Starting off: There’s a growing outcry over the fact that five Labour figures (so far) have been handed plum civil service jobs — three of which have been uncovered by POLITICO. You’re welcome, Keir.
Missing in action: The promise to vastly improve the speed and detail of ministerial meetings data also appears to have stalled. More context and righteous anger from fellow transparency crusader Henry Dyer here.
On the plus side: We’ve got the first full register of MPs’ financial interests. Dumped out after dinner on a recess Friday.
Joke’s on you … Because Influence has no life. We spent the weekend combing through the 761 pages of money movements. We’ll have some juicy bits to bring you very soon, but until then here are some of the top lines.
Fat stacks Farage: The Reform leader was cornered as the highest paid MP by several outlets shortly after the data dropped, in large part due to his disclosure he is paid nearly £98,000 a month for his GB News work.
Muddy waters: Farage has subsequently argued the claim is wrong because the figure relates to multiple months of work, includes payments for other non-presenting commitments, includes VAT and doesn’t account for his business expenses.
Classic: “Sorry to disappoint the media,” Farage added to the end of his rebuttal. No problem, Nige. Just get someone competent to fill out the simple forms next month.
Meanwhile: LabourList crunched the £2m in union wonga handed down to candidates in the run up to the election, while the Guardian reckons the super influential Labour Together think tank splurged nearly £900,000 in support for prospective Labour MPs.
Blimey: Those are big sums, but snapping at their heels is Autoglass boss Gary Lubner, who appears a whopping 77 times in the document. Influence tallied up the figures, and we reckon he paid out nearly £830,000 to candidates in the run up to the election alone, and that doesn’t take into account monster donations, including £210,000 to Yvette Cooper and £70,000 to David Lammy to help fund their shadow offices earlier this year.
Makes you wonder … what happened to all the piping up from Labour MPs over the last few years about the unfairness of a political system which relies on mega donors?
Labour bigwig Michael Dugher joined Brunswick as a senior adviser after four years as chief exec of the Betting and Gaming Council.
Callum Delhoy joined AdviceUK as public affairs and policy manager.
Mark Frankel joined Full Fact as interim head of communications and policy, while Azzurra Moores has been promoted to policy lead.
Nathaniel Ogunniyi joined Hanbury Strategy as a political consultant after three years at FTI Consulting.
Charlie Hale joined Milltown Partners as co-lead of the global policy team after a spell at Pinterest.
Tess Sheerman has a new role as digital campaign officer at the Labour Party.
Kaya Gadhia joined Whitehouse Communications as a public affairs associate consultant.
Rory O’Brien is starting a new role as head of partnerships and events at the Fabian Society.
Jobs jobs jobs: Barnardo’s is looking for a new head of policy and public affairs … Asthma + Lung UK has an opening for a senior campaigns and public affairs officer … The NHS Confederation has two senior external affairs officer gigs going, in media relations and public affairs … Greenpeace UK is on the hunt for a head of politics … Universities UK want to hire a head of research policy … and there is an opening for a policy and public affairs graduate at the British Retail Consortium.
Thanks: To editor Matt Honeycombe-Foster for his usual editing excellence. And to the production team for making it look nice.
**A message from bp: We’re investing in today’s energy system and helping to build out tomorrow’s while we do. And, not or – that’s our approach. While today we’re mostly in oil and gas, we increased the proportion of our global annual investment that went into our lower carbon & other transition businesses from around 3% in 2019 to around 23% in 2023. bp.com/AndNotOr.**
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