18 September 2023

The last Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference that took place in person was in 2019, pre-COVID. In what could be deemed as bad luck, since 2019 the Party held two Conferences online in 2020 and 2021, before their 2022 Conference was cancelled following the passing of the Queen. Now, buoyed by recent by-election success and positive polling data (all relative, of course), the Party will be heading to Bournemouth with a spring in their step.

However, outside of the Party bubble, the Lib Dems continue to divide opinion among businesses, public affairs consultants, and the media over whether they remain relevant. On one side, they are considered possible ‘King makers’ in a minority Government at the next General Election and could hold significant influence over the direction of travel. They have also demonstrated that no swing is too big to overturn at a by-election, most recently in Somerton and Frome with a 29-point swing from the Conservatives. On the other side, they are the fourth largest Party in Parliament and considered unable to translate by-election swings at a General Election. Their status as a small Party is evident when looking at Electoral Commission data on Party Spending last year – the Labour Party’s spending totalled £44.5m, the Conservative’s spending was £33.06m whilst the Lib Dems spent £6.7m.

This year’s Party Conference won’t just be about proving to the UK that they are on the relevant side of that debate. They, like the Labour Party, have an important job to do to ratify policy proposals ahead of their General Election manifesto. Debates will be held on motions, put forward in advance, which Members can then speak in favour of. If a motion is passed, then it becomes Lib Dem policy. This process will be even more important this year as the Lib Dem Manifesto Working Group, Chaired by Lord Newby, is in the process of putting together its document. Lord Newby has said this manifesto will be slimmed down, featuring just three to five key policies the Party wants to be known for, to avoid the last manifesto’s mishap where legalising marijuana was the only policy people remembered.

Whatever your perception is of the Party, the Conference will be an exciting time for its members and for businesses. For members, this is the first time they will be together in four years, and they will be celebrating campaign successes across the UK. For businesses, they will have a chance to speak to new MPs, old MPs and PPCs who could be the ‘King makers’ at the next General Election.

To get in touch with the H/Advisors Cicero team during Conference, please contact: Claudia Mulholland at claudia.mulholland@h-advisors.global