Party conference season

In the United Kingdom the party conference season is the period of three weeks in September and October of each year, whilst The House of Commons is in recess, in which the annual political party conferences are held.

Political party conferences have traditionally taken place in seaside resorts such as Blackpool, Brighton and Bournemouth, largely due to there being plenty of cheap accommodation available in such towns at the end of the summer holiday season. However, they are increasingly taking place in major cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham, with all of the major U.K. political parties' conferences taking place in towns and cities in 2014.

There is an unofficial agreement between the parties that they will stagger the timing of their conferences 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.

The dates of the 2014 conferences are as follows:

• Green Party of England and Wales - 5 to 8 September, in Birmingham ^[1]
• Trades Union Congress - 7 to 10 September, in Liverpool ^[2]
• Labour - 21 to 24 September, in Manchester ^[3]
• UKIP - 26 to 27 September, in Doncaster ^[4]
• Conservatives - 28 September to 1 October, in Birmingham ^[5]
• Liberal Democrats - 4 to 8 October, in Glasgow ^[6]
• Scottish Green Party - 11 to 12 October, in Edinburgh ^[7]
• Plaid Cymru - 24 to 25 October, in Aberystwyth ^[8]
• Scottish National Party - 13 to 15 November, in Perth ^[9]

The Scottish National Party is due to elect a new party leader at its annual conference following Alex Salmond's announcement of resignation.

The dates of the 2013 conferences were as follows:

• Trades Union Congress - 8 to 11 September, in Bournemouth
• Green Party of England and Wales - 13 to 16 September, in Brighton
• Liberal Democrats - 14 to 18 September, in Glasgow
• UKIP - 20 to 21 September, in London
• Labour- 22 to 25 September, in Brighton
• Conservatives - 29 September to 2 October, in Manchester ^[10]
• Plaid Cymru - 11 to 12 October, in Aberystwyth
• Scottish National Party - 17 to 20 October, in Perth

The dates of the 2012 conferences were as follows:

• Green Party of England and Wales - 7 to 10 September, in Bristol
• Trades Union Congress - 9 to 12 September, in Brighton
• Plaid Cymru - 13 to 15 September, in Brecon
• UKIP - 21 to 22 September, in Birmingham
• Liberal Democrats - 22 to 26 September, in Brighton
• Labour- 30 September to 4 October, in Manchester
• Conservatives - 8 to 11 October, in Birmingham
• Scottish National Party - 18 to 21 October, in Perth

References

1. ↑ http://greenparty.org.uk/conference.html
2. ↑ http://www.tuc.org.uk/events/tuc-congress-2014
3. ↑ http://www.labour.org.uk/annual-conference-2014
4. ↑ http://www.ukip.org/ukip_to_hold_it_s_biggest_ever_annual_conference_at_doncaster_racecourse
5. ↑ http://www.conservativepartyconference.org.uk/Home.aspx
6. ↑ http://www.libdems.org.uk/autumn_conference
7. ↑ http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk/conference-2014
8. ↑ http://www.partyofwales.org/events/?force=1
9. ↑ http://www.snp.org/conference/snp-national-conference-13-15-november-2014
10. ↑ http://www.conservativepartyconference.org.uk/