Party conference diaries

An MP's personal view from each party's conference

It is that time of year again when MPs, party delegates, supporters and the media gather for the autumn party conferences.

Here in the West three local MPs will be giving us regular diary updates.

This week it's the turn of the Conservatives with their conference in Manchester. Weston-super-Mare MP, John Penrose tells us about his conference experience

Conservatives: 8 October

The Leader's speech is the last hurrah of every Party's conference, and they're usually given the same support and applause as rock stars.

The Conservative MP for Weston-super-Mare, John Penrose.

People started queuing to see David Cameron three hours before he was due to appear, and the entire audience was on its feet and clapping before he even walked on stage.

So it wasn't exactly a tough crowd he was facing, but he had a difficult message to put across: recovering from this recession will mean a lot of hard work, but Britain can be a better place when we've finished.

Cameron impresses me more and more. Some people worried he was too inexperienced when he first became Tory leader four years ago, but he's taken to the role amazingly easily.

He had the sense to surround himself with a very high calibre team of people like William Hague, Ken Clarke and Oliver Letwin, and to listen to their advice.

He showed impressive leadership and steel in dealing with the MP expenses scandal, and personal strength after his disabled son died tragically early this year. Now we'll have to wait for the General Election to see whether the voters are as impressed with him as I am.

Conservatives: 6 October

The conference rolls on. There's a bit of a row because the Government have made a big announcement on public sector pay at the same time as George Osborne is rolling out a new policy on state pensions.

The problem is that parties usually don't try to sabotage each others conferences, and people are assuming Labour were too scared of a negative reaction to announce it at their own Conference last week.

But it's one of those 'Westminster village' issues which are only interesting to political anoraks; I suspect the real world is far more interested in what each of the two policy announcements will mean for them.

I have a new policy of my own which Ken Clarke will be launching today. It's designed to slash red tape and bureaucracy by reforming the way Westminster, Brussels and quangos work, and stopping them from interfering more and more in our everyday lives. The launch is this afternoon during Ken's main conference speech. Fingers crossed!

Conservatives: 5 October

Party Conferences are like icebergs. Nine tenths of what happens is invisible to the general public, because it happens at fringe events and in bars rather than the main conference hall.

You can find discussions and debates on everything under the sun, from peace in the Middle East to healthcare reform and economic recovery.

So far I've spoken at two fringe events and had a series of meetings with business people who want to know how a possible future Conservative Government (I cross my fingers every time I write this) might affect their prospects.

The biggest difference this year is the delegates' style. Everyone seems to be fizzing with ideas and wants to debate and discuss them. Some of the proposals are a bit wild and whacky, but many are extremely thought-provoking and, taken together, they show a movement that is starting to win the battle of ideas.

Conservatives: 5 October

First impressions are that this conference is a lot bigger than usual. It's always busier in the run-up to a General Election, of course, but that can't explain what I'm seeing. There's something else in the air.

Part of it is the new face of the Tories. The party is younger, more multi-cultural and more female than before, which creates new energy and buzz.

The polls help too, of course. A healthy lead will put a spring in the step of any political party. Every footbal fan feels cheerful when their team is winning, and party members react the same way.

Labour

The Labour Party conference was held in Brighton. Bristol East MP, Kerry McCarthy, tells us about her conference experience.

Labour: 30 September

Slightly annoyed by how the Sun's completely predictable announcement that it would be backing the Tories at the next election has overshadowed today's Conference; as ever the media is more interested in itself than it is in the serious policies being debated in the Conference Hall and on the fringe.

Kerry McCarthy is Labour's New Media Campaign Spokesperson

I popped into a VSO fringe meeting at lunchtime, at which there was a good turnout of MPs who have, like me, been on VSO placements. I spent a couple of weeks in Uganda, at the VSO head office in 2007, advising them on campaigning and advocacy work.

I asked the panel what more VSO and business could do to involve diaspora communities in development in their countries of origin, and was reassured that some good work is going on. I also did the round of stalls in the exhibition area, talking to people from the NSPCC, Carers UK, Abortion Rights, BUAV, League Against Cruel Sports, Vote Cruelty Free and others.

I still have a long list of old friends I haven't managed to catch up with yet at Conference, some of whom are working for charities, campaigns or companies which means we have particular issues to discuss, and others it would just be nice to have a coffee with. I've promised to pop into Labour Students later, and the UNITE reception, so might see some of them there.

Labour: 29 September

Obviously the highlight of today's Labour Conference was Gordon's speech. Unfortunately I wasn't in the conference hall as I'd agreed to do a running commentary for a TV channel, which in retrospect wasn't such a great idea as I missed the atmosphere in the Conference Hall.

I thought Sarah Brown did a great job introducing him and looked absolutely stunning.

And of course Gordon was great too.

This should put any doubts about his leadership to bed. Some interesting things in the speech, including the idea of a National Care Service, joining up the NHS and social services in care for the elderly, which I think is long overdue.

And family intervention is an important issue locally too; too often communities are blighted by the behaviour of one or two families, even sometimes to the extent of driving 'decent' families out of their homes.

Earlier in the day I was in the hall for a platform appearance by Jake Tillett, a local apprentice who works on a housing scheme in east Bristol.

He was nervous but did really well! As for tonight, I'll be going along to a Piggybank Kids reception, and hope to bump into Sarah Brown there - it's linked to the Jennifer Brown Research Fund which was set up in memory of Sarah's first child.

Can't stay out too late though - I've got to be at the Conference centre for 6.15am!

Labour: 28 September

Mostly on 'Twitter tsar' duty today... I started the day by hosting a bloggers breakfast (OK, a bloggers brunch - and no food either!) with Douglas Alexander.
I finished it with a 'twinge' meeting with Ed Balls, David Miliband, Ben Bradshaw and others, discussing the role of new media in politics today - a great interactive meeting with plenty of audience participation, both in the hall and from people on Twitter.

I also managed to spend a fair bit of time in the Conference hall today, to see Ed Miliband (again) on climate change, Andrew Adonis on transport policy and Alistair Darling.

And of course, there was Lord Mandelson's speech. I've seen him speak at Conference before; he's been articulate and accomplished, but not especially inspiring. This was very different: a real tour de force which received a standing ovation from the delegates, (even those that are not known to be Mandy fans!) I was pleased to hear him talk about the need to do more to promote the 'D' part of R&D. Britain leads the world in research and innovation, but we need engineers who can turn those ideas into reality too.

Looking forward to the Leader's speech tomorrow afternoon now, and also John Healey's speech on housing in the morning. Will he mention last Tuesday's visit to Bristol?

Labour: 27 September

It's been a good conference so far in an unexpectedly sunny Brighton. Last night I had the honour of introducing John Prescott on stage at the Go Fourth rally, at which he made a typically rumbustious speech, urging activists to get out there and get campaigning.

This was followed by the first - but by no means the last 'tweet up' of the Conference. It was really good to be able to meet Labour activists I've been talking to on Twitter this year.

We had another tweet-up today, publicised by Tom Watson MP on the basis I would be buying all the drinks!

I've been doing a few interviews, for the mainstream media but also for social media sites including my first ever audioboo for Jim Knight, the Minister for Employment today - quite where that will end up, I don't know!

Most people want to ask about the role of social media in campaigning, but also about the mood within the party and whether, as Alistair Darling is quoted as saying, Labour has 'lost the will to live'.

All I can say is that there's been a real buzz at the events I've attended so far, and in the Conference Hall today. It's going to be a good week - Operation Fightback starts now!

Labour: 26 September

This is my 17th Labour Party Conference, the first being Brighton in 1993 when I was roped in as a last minute substitute after our delegate had to pull out.

Nothing will ever come close to the buzz of that first Conference, but I still look forward to it each year, not just for the politics, but also because it's a great chance to catch up with old friends and to make new ones.

This year that's especially true as I've taken on the challenge of organising a Conference 'tweet up' of Labour supporters on Twitter. I'll finally get to meet all those activists I've been tweeting with this year! (The hashtag we're using for Conference is #lab09, if you're interested in following things on Twitter and I'm on there as @KerryMP.)

My new role as Labour's New Media Campaigns Spokesperson (aka the 'Twitter tsar', which I think is a label I'm stuck with now) is going to take up most of my time at Conference this year.

I'll be speaking at a few fringe events on the use of new media in political campaigning, and on how we can use social networking to engage more with voters.

I will also be available to give Twitter lessons to any MP who wants them! And on the Monday night I'll be speaking at a fringe event on 'How Can We Fix Broken Families?' which I think could turn out to be a fascinating discussion.

So... it's down to Brighton on the train on Saturday, with the first fringe (or twinge as, inevitably, they're calling it) John Prescott's Tweet for Victory party on Saturday night - a great way to get Conference started!

Liberal Democrats: 22 September

Martin Horwood, MP for Cheltenham and Liberal Democrat shadow environment minister, at their conference in Bournemouth.

Martin Horwood is at the Lib Dems' conference in Bournemouth

Being a frontbench spokesman in a really democratic party can be a slightly nerve-wracking experience.

Today at the Lib Dem party conference, I spoke in the debate on the party's pre-manifesto 'A Fresh Start for Britain'.

I called for the party to reaffirm policies that clearly distinguished us from the Conservatives, including the pledge to cap big individual donations to political parties, oppose nuclear power and abolish student tuition fees.

But I was acutely aware that later in the day delegates might vote to put nuclear back into our energy mix to help us meet carbon reduction targets.

My view is that nuclear is unaffordable, unsafe and above all, unnecessary.

With serious commitments to renewable energy, clean coal and energy efficiency, I think we can make the transition to a much cleaner, greener energy policy.

Believing that, could I stay on as spokesman if we lost the argument?

So I watched with some trepidation the tense debate with strong arguments put on both sides. The eventual vote was a clear vote to keep our anti-nuclear policy intact.

I headed off for a restorative cup of tea, pleased to have witnessed a really high quality debate. But also pretty relieved.

Liberal Democrats: 21 September

Today was very busy! Alongside two fringes and lots of meetings, I proposed a new policy to conference in the main hall this afternoon.

The paper is ambitious: it proposes measures to safeguard and enhance our natural environment, and promote the importance of biodiversity.

This policy is extremely relevant to Gloucestershire and the South West in general: to anyone who is concerned about housing targets and the plans to build thousands of houses on greenfield land.

The national housing targets imposed through Regional Spatial Strategies that are so unpopular in the South West, and indeed across the country, will be scrapped under a Lib Dem government as a result of this new policy.

I am delighted it was passed with overwhelming support from my fellow delegates. This is fantastic news for all the local campaigners who are working tirelessly to preserve these valued green spaces.

Liberal Democrats: 20 September

We will be debating new policy initiatives and discussing important issues in the run-up to the general election.

One of the main policy motions is one on the natural environment, which I am presenting to conference on Monday.

Other headline debates at this year's conference will include motions on fighting poverty overseas, child protection, energy and climate change, supporting our troops, the policing of protests and MPs' expenses.

In my role as a shadow minister, I am also taking part in some of the many, many fringe events on topics ranging from water conservation and flooding to nuclear power, to wellbeing in the recession and how we can create a low-carbon economy.

Lib Dem conferences are still very democratic and genuinely unpredictable, not planned PR events. So this should be an interesting and vibrant conference and I will be reporting back on here each day about what I am doing. I hope to give you an insight into the weird and wonderful ways that party conferences work!