It was my first time at a political party conference. Any political party. North West Bylines was granted a press pass by the Labour Media Team, and I could not say no to that.
Expecting it to be overwhelming, I decided to go Sunday and Tuesday, and skip Monday to recover in between, then not attend Wednesday for the same reason.
And boy did I need those rest days!
Sunday travel and checking in
In hindsight travelling on a Sunday may not have been the best decision. Trains don’t start running until 9am between Wigan and Liverpool, so to arrive reasonably early I had to take the train from Earlestown station (and that one is a two-hourly service all Sunday). On the plus side there’s a decent size free carpark at Earlestown station. It was a shame about the roadworks in front of the station, but thankfully that only caused me a diversion on the way back.
So in total my journey consisted of a car, two trains, and then about ten minutes walking from James Street station to the venue
So far so good. I arrived and reported to the police tent for a security check, as requested, to make sure I was who I have claimed to be all my life. Fortunately after scrutinising me and my Dutch passport I was told that I am indeed myself. I was, as you can imagine, rather relieved.
After waiting 15 minutes for the computer system to update I went to collect my credentials. Then I had to queue up in the next tent to go through airport-style security to have myself and my bag checked. After passing the necessary checks, bag scanned,walk through metal detector, I was allowed to go in.
Trying to get my bearings
It hit me immediately. The people, the sounds, the lights. I had expected it to be busy, but I certainly wasn’t prepared for this level of busyness. The atmosphere was good, not once did I hear people arguing in the time I spent at the conference. It was, however, warm, very warm. Or maybe that is me being ‘that age’, you know the age when you have hot spells. I made a beeline for the water dispenser. They were great, a much needed tonic in the warmth of the event. Cold water was the best thing to drink I found.
Finding the rooms I wanted to hear a discussion in wasn’t easy. The conference was spread over two main buildings (plus there were some talks in other buildings, even in Liverpool City Centre – which was too far to walk to and from for me). I would have loved some Conference-specific signposting, like: ‘Arena Rooms this way’ or ‘Auditorium rooms turn left here’. In fact, in one building, all three floors were in use. There were maps on the wall in a few places, and that helped a bit.
By my second day I was there the Tuesday, I had an idea of where to go. However the Auditorium rooms were still elusive, I eventually found those on Tuesday afternoon. The press area for the main talks however I never found, leaving me wondering if indeed there was such a space. But I must admit I am directionally challenged, so that may have played a part.
Either the Arena rooms were too small, or the conference was too well attended. There were always people who could not attend as all the seats were taken. And with the rooms being made of some kind of plastic tents erected in a large hall, with no ventilation, tent doors closed during the talks, the air did not exactly smell fresh in some of them, especially after a few hours. Unfortunately as a result, that led me to scrap the talks I wanted to attend in those rooms.
Trying to attend the sessions I had noted down
I had come prepared after finding a program online. I had made a list of what sessions sounded the most interesting to me and of those that I felt would be of most benefit to attend, I arranged them by day and time, and what rooms they were in, trying to get them close to each other in proximity. However, despite being well prepared there was a flaw built into the system. If a session ends on the hour and the next one starts on the same hour, it leaves little time to go up or down two sets of stairs and run through one or two corridors! As a result I missed a few sessions because I could not queue up, and leaving early was not always an option as you might miss the most important question from someone in the audience.
The Exhibition Hall
The Exhibition Hall was my favourite. The hall was packed with stands from companies and charities, most of which aligned not only with Labour values but also with my own values. I say most, as GBNews also had a stand in the Exhibition Hall – equal opportunities I suppose. Curiously, their stand was not all that busy.
I really enjoyed meeting the charity volunteers, hearing about their mission, and eating their chocolates was definitely a bonus. I took loads of leaflets home with me, to go through slowly and keep in a folder. And I gave them all a Bylines Network leaflet. I decided to be cheeky and hand out Dupuytren Society leaflets as well because you should never say no to a bit of advocacy.
The leaflets I was given may well come in useful at some point. You never know when we might get an article on a subject where we want to ask a charity for a quote.
A quick cuddle with one of the guide dogs on their stand was lovely, and as the dog wasn’t wearing a work harness it was allowed. This was probably the highlight of my day.
Among the people walking around the venue there MUST have been MPs and ministers. Unfortunately my internal facial recognition app failed its installation when I was young, and I didn’t recognise anyone. To be honest I didn’t expect to either. I know my limitations. It would have been nice if the accreditation badges had given more of a colour coded clue.
Orange was used to identify a Labour member (not sure why they didn’t use red), and blue was for members of the community whether they were press or otherwise. Maybe there were more clues on the badges and I just didn’t notice. Given how busy the days were, it is entirely possible I missed it.
The speech brought hope
Tuesday afternoon, after the Prime Minister’s speech, there was a distinct air of positivity. The atmosphere was buzzing. I heard people using words like ‘hope’ and ‘powerful’ when talking about the speech. They felt this was a forward-looking approach, a chance for real change and something the country desperately needs. Abandoning the triple lock on pensions wasn’t generally seen as a problem, as far as I heard, and everyone seemed to agree that we need a good adult social care system.
Renationalisation was a popular idea among those present, as was vocational training rather than only academic training for young people. Build on people’s abilities and preferences, rather than trying to force a “one system fits all” approach, because one system of education does NOT fit all.
And as for closer ties with the EU – about time! The Conservatives should have negotiated a far better deal at the time. The opportunities were there but it felt as though they simply didn’t want to take them.
I went home early, but more positive than when I cam
I didn’t last much longer than an hour after the speech finished.
Being on my feet much of the day, with so much going on around me, had taken its toll, even though I retreated to one of the “quiet rooms” now and then to regain my composure.
But I went home knowing the conference was a success, and that many people now felt a little more hopeful about the future. If Andy Burnham manages to achieve only half of what he wants, the future could be brighter than it seemed a few months ago. Certainly for me it will be.
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