Conference culture clash

The Winter Gardens has been upgraded with £1m

Donkey rides vs dinner parties: Blackpool's strained relations with New Labour are examined by BBC News Online's Chris Hamilton.

Was it Blackpool's fish 'n' chips and lager image that put Labour off holding their annual conference in the Lancashire seaside resort?

There could hardly be a starker contrast with the cappuccino and sun-dried tomato culture enjoyed in New Labour's Islington heartland.

More practical reasons were blamed in March 1998 when the decision to stay away from Blackpool was announced, to the fury of local residents and businesses.

Labour delegates can look forward to Blackpool's rollercoasters again

Poor conference facilities and commercial considerations were cited in public by party officials.

Those problems seem to have been soothed by £1m of improvements to the Winter Gardens, the main conference venue, and successful negotiations with the owners, borough council and local MPs.

But will the party's foot soldiers be happy at the decision?

They have looked on in envy as ministers and party bigwigs enjoyed the pampered luxury of the seafront Hilton or Imperial hotels.

Surrounded by tight security, they are the focus of the week's activities away from the Winter Gardens.

Anyone with a conference pass heads to them for the best gossip, most lavish parties and the chance to rub shoulders with political celebrities.

Blackpool rock: Not a New Labour favourite

As one veteran conference journalist put it: "Labour are going back because Blackpool has now tarted up the Winter Gardens to make it more acceptable to New Labour.

"But most delegates will continue to be dismayed about the appalling state of accommodation they are forced to put up with in the town's hotels."

On top of grumbles over the hotels, an expensive Winter Gardens refurbishment and smooth negotiations offer no escape from Blackpool's earthy image.

It was always a major holiday destination for Britain's working classes with beaches, donkey rides and all the other traditional seaside attractions.

Tourists still flock there for the theme park rides - including the terrifying Big One rollercoaster - slot machine arcades and famous piers.

The nightlife now successfully appeals to young clubbers and the historic illuminations pull visitors in from across the north of England and beyond.

It's fish 'n' chips, barm cakes and seaside rock on the menu - all a far cry from New Labour's metropolitan sophistication.

The seafront at Blackpool is one of its major attractions

But the party has little choice.

Blackpool still offers the working class and north of England credentials it needs.

Few locations in the north offer facilities to cope with the huge scale of a modern party political conference.

Heading north of the border, to Glasgow or Edinburgh, is out of the question since devolution.

The whole affair throws into sharp relief the whispers of some backbench MPs.

They argue conferences are tightly stage managed, decide little in policy terms and act simply as showcases for the leader's speech.

Would a lower key event staged in London be more appropriate for a modern, sleeker, political party, they wonder.

And should serious consideration be given to scrapping altogether the annual week-long jaunt to far-flung provincial towns?