In the United Kingdom the party conference season is a period of three weeks during September and October of each year, whilst the House of Commons is in recess, in which the annual political party conferences are held.
The Conservative Party conference, Labour Party conference and the twice-per-year Liberal Democrat conference, representing the three largest UK-wide political parties, in terms of seats held, hold their main annual conferences in the autumn. These occur in reverse order to this list, and remains the order regardless as to which party is in government.
In contrast to its main opponents' conferences,[1] [2] the Liberal Democrats grant all party members attending its conference, either in-person or online,[3] the right to vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system.[4] [5] Among the three largest UK-wide parties, the Liberal Democrat conference is also unique in providing a ring-fenced access fund,[6] which defrays travel and accommodation costs for both disabled and low-income attendees.[7]
UK-wide political party conferences have traditionally taken place in seaside resorts, at places such as the Empress Ballroom at Winter Gardens in Blackpool, the Brighton Centre in Brighton and the Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, largely due to there being plenty of cheap accommodation available in such towns at the end of the summer holiday season. However, for the two largest parties, they are increasingly taking place in major cities with modern, purpose-built conference centres, such as the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Birmingham, the Central Convention Complex in Manchester and the Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) in Liverpool.[8]
Conferences for the devolved Scottish and Welsh parties of the UK-wide Labour, Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties are held in March, while the Scottish Green Party holds two conferences each year – a one-day policy event alongside the devolved conferences in March and a two or three day main conference during the main conference season.
There is an unofficial agreement between the parties that they will stagger the timing of their conferences such that media attention be undivided, though smaller parties do not always abide by this rule firmly. In 2012, for example, there was an overlap between the Liberal Democrat and United Kingdom Independence Party annual conferences, with the latter concluding on the opening day of the former, and in 2013 the Liberal Democrat and Green Party of England and Wales conferences overlapped by three days.
Until the second half of the 1980s, with the exception of a mid-morning 25-minute break for Play School, BBC television had broadcast live, uninterrupted coverage of all of the party conferences, as well as the Trades Union Congress and the CBI conference. However, the commencement of daytime television in October 1986, and with it an extended children's programming clock, meant that the mid-morning interruption extended to 40 minutes from 1987 onwards, with the notable exception of the Trades Union Congress which was shown on BBC2 due to it taking place before the commencement of the new term's schools broadcasts. Subsequent years saw coverage continue to be gradually reduced.
1992 saw the launch of The Parliamentary Channel and live, uninterrupted coverage of the three main party conferences was broadcast, without commentary or interviews. This continued after BBC Parliament took over the service in 1998 and continued until 2019. However, cutbacks at BBC Parliament saw it drop all of its political programming in 2021 other than live and recorded coverage from Westminster and the devolved chambers[9] [10] This now means that linear television no longer provides significant coverage of the party conferences, with live coverage on BBC Two restricted to just the party leaders’ speeches of the three main political parties.
Until the early 1980, ITV, and then, for a short while, Channel 4, had also shown coverage. ITV and Channel 4's coverage is now restricted to its scheduled news bulletins.
On radio, coverage was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 but was restricted to scheduled news bulletins. However, the launch of BBC Radio 5 Live saw additional live coverage, which includes the live broadcast of the leaders' speeches.
The dates for the 2024 conferences are as follows:
| Scottish National Party | Edinburgh International Conference Centre | Edinburgh | Scotland | 30 August - 1 September | |
| Green Party of England and Wales | Manchester Central Convention Complex | Manchester | England | 6 - 8 September | |
| Liberal Democrats (UK) | Brighton Centre | Brighton | England | 14 - 17 September | |
| Trades Union Congress | Brighton Centre | Brighton | England | 8 - 11 September | |
| Reform Party (UK) | NEC Birmingham | Marston Green | England | 20 - 21 September | |
| Labour Party (UK) | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 22 - 25 September | |
| Conservative Party (UK) | International Convention Centre, Birmingham | Birmingham | England | 29 September - 2 October | |
| Plaid Cymru | Principality Stadium | Cardiff | Wales | 11 - 12 October | |
| Scottish Green Party | Beacon Arts Centre | Greenock | Scotland | 26 - 27 October |
Since last year’s cancellation of the Liberal Democrats Party Conference in Brighton due to the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the 2023 edition of the Liberal Democrats Party Conference returned to Bournemouth for the first time, the dates for the 2023 conferences were as follows:
| Trades Union Congress | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 10 - 13 September | [11] | |
| Liberal Democrats | Bournemouth International Centre | Bournemouth | England | 23 - 26 September | [12] | |
| Conservatives | Manchester Central Convention Complex | Manchester | England | 1 - 4 October | [13] | |
| Plaid Cymru | Aberystwyth Arts Centre | Aberystwyth | Wales | 6 - 7 October | [14] | |
| Green Party of England and Wales | Brighton Centre | Brighton | England | 6 - 8 October | [15] | |
| Reform UK | Hilton London Metropole | London | England | 7 October | [16] | |
| Labour | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 8 - 11 October | [17] | |
| Scottish National Party | P&J Live | Aberdeen | Scotland | 15 - 17 October | [18] | |
| Scottish Green Party | Carnegie Conference Centre | Dunfermline | Scotland | 28 - 29 October | [19] |
Following the Death of Elizabeth II, the Liberal Democrats cancelled their planned conference whilst Trades Union Congress rescheduled theirs, both as a mark of respect to the Queen. The dates and locations for the 2022 conferences were as follows:
The Party conferences largely reverted back to physical attendance following their cancellation the previous year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but some parties opted to keep their conferences online and some opted for a mix of both, with the dates and locations as follows:
The dates and locations of the 2020 conferences were planned to be as follows:
However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic all the physical party conferences were moved online. The Labour conference was replaced by an online event called "Labour Connected" from 19 to 22 September,[24] the Liberal Democrat conference was rescheduled for 25 to 28 September[25] and the Conservative conference for 3 to 6 October.[26] The Scottish National Party conference was the last major party conference of the season, held online from 28 to 30 November.[27]
The dates and locations of the Autumn 2019 conferences were as follows:
| Party | Start date | End date | Venue | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunday 8 September 2019 | Wednesday 11 September 2019 | The Brighton Centre | [28] | ||
| Saturday 14 September 2019 | Tuesday 17 September 2019 | ||||
| Saturday 21 September 2019 | Wednesday 25 September 2019 | ||||
| Sunday 29 September 2019 | Wednesday 2 October 2019 | ||||
| Friday 4 October 2019 | Sunday 6 October 2019 | [29] | |||
| Plaid Cymru | Friday 4 October 2019 | Sunday 6 October 2019 | Swansea Grand Theatre | ||
| Scottish National Party | Sunday 13 October 2019 | Tuesday 15 October 2019 | [30] | ||
| Scottish Green Party | Saturday 12 October 2019 | Sunday 13 October 2019 | Eden Court Inverness | [31] |
As a result of the defeat for the Government in Miller/Cherry, the September prorogation of Parliament was declared void, and Parliament sat from 25 September. This meant that the Labour conference was cut short and – after failing to win a vote for a recess – that the Conservative conference clashed with the sitting of Parliament for the first time.[32] [33]
The dates and locations of other 2019 conferences are as follows:
| Party | Start date | End date | Venue | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday 22 February | Saturday 23 February | [34] | |||
| Friday 8 March | Sunday 10 March | Caird Hall, Dundee | [35] | ||
| Liberal Democrats | Friday 15 March | Sunday 17 March | Barbican Centre, York | [36] | |
| Friday 22 March | Saturday 23 March | [37] | |||
| Saturday 6 April | Sunday 7 April | [38] | |||
| Saturday 27 April | Sunday 28 April | [39] | |||
| Friday 3 May | Saturday 4 May | [40] | |||
| Friday 7 June | Monday 10 June | [41] |
The dates and locations of the 2018 conferences were as follows:
The dates and locations of the 2017 conferences were as follows:
The dates and locations of the 2016 conferences were as follows:
The dates and locations of the 2015 conferences were as follows:
The dates of the 2014 conferences were as follows:
At their annual conference, the Scottish National Party held a leadership election following Alex Salmond's announcement of resignation. Nicola Sturgeon, formerly Salmond's deputy, was elected as their new leader.
The dates of the 2013 conferences were as follows:
The dates of the 2012 conferences were as follows: