Party conference season


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, the Liberal Democrats grant all party members attending its conference, either in-person or online, the right to vote on party policy, under a one-member, one vote system. Among the three largest UK-wide parties, the Liberal Democrat conference is also unique in providing a ring-fenced access fund, which defrays travel and accommodation costs for both disabled and low-income attendees.
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 in Birmingham, the Central Convention Complex in Manchester and the Arena and Convention Centre in Liverpool.
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.

Television coverage

Until the second half of the 1980s, with the exception of a mid-morning 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 block, meant that the mid-morning interruption extended to 40 minutes from 1987 onwards, with further coverage breaks for hourly news summaries, 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 on BBC TV 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. However, cutbacks at BBC Parliament saw it drop all of its political programming with the channel reduced to nothing other than live and recorded coverage from Westminster and the devolved chambers and 2019 was the final time that BBC Parliament aired coverage of the coverage of the party conferences. This now means that linear television no longer provides significant coverage, with live coverage on BBC Two restricted to the party leaders’ speeches of the three main political parties.
Until the early 1980s, ITV, and then, for a short while, Channel 4, also showed coverage. ITV and Channel 4's coverage is now restricted to its scheduled news bulletins.
On radio, coverage was restricted to clips in scheduled news bulletins. However, the launch of BBC Radio 5 Live in 1994 saw the first live radio coverage, which includes the live broadcast of the leaders' speeches.

2026 conference season

The confirmed dates for the 2026 conferences are as follows:
PartyVenueCity/TownCountryDate
Liberal Democrats (UK)Brighton CentreBrightonEngland19–22 September
Labour Party (UK)ACC LiverpoolLiverpoolEngland27–30 September
Conservative Party (UK)International Convention Centre, BirminghamBirminghamEngland4 – 8 October

2025 conference season

The dates for the 2025 conferences are as follows:
PartyVenueCity/TownCountryDate
Reform UKNEC BirminghamBirminghamEngland5–6 September
Trades Union CongressBrighton CentreBrightonEngland7–10 September
Liberal Democrats (UK)Bournemouth International CentreBournemouthEngland20–23 September
Labour Party (UK)ACC LiverpoolLiverpoolEngland28 September – 1 October
Green Party of England and WalesBournemouth International CentreBournemouthEngland3–5 October
Conservative Party (UK)Manchester Central Convention ComplexManchesterEngland5–8 October
Plaid CymruBrangwyn HallSwanseaWales10–11 October
Welsh Liberal DemocratsRamada PlazaWrexhamWales10–12 October
Scottish National PartyThe Event Complex AberdeenAberdeenScotland11–13 October
Scottish Green PartyJohn McIntyre Conference CentreEdinburghScotland17–19 October
Scottish Liberal DemocratsRadisson Blu HotelGlasgowScotland18 October
Wales Green PartyClayton HotelCardiffWales8–9 November
Co-operative PartyTBCLondonEngland15-16 November
Your Party (UK)ACC LiverpoolLiverpoolEngland29-30 November

2024 conference season

The dates for the 2024 conferences were as follows:
PartyVenueCity/TownCountryDate
Scottish National PartyEdinburgh International Conference CentreEdinburghScotland30 August – 1 September
Green Party of England and WalesManchester Central Convention ComplexManchesterEngland6–8 September
Trades Union CongressBrighton CentreBrightonEngland8–11 September
Liberal Democrats (UK)Brighton CentreBrightonEngland14–17 September
Reform Party (UK)NEC BirminghamMarston GreenEngland20–21 September
Labour Party (UK)ACC LiverpoolLiverpoolEngland22–25 September
Conservative Party (UK)International Convention Centre, BirminghamBirminghamEngland29 September – 2 October
Plaid CymruPrincipality StadiumCardiffWales11–12 October
Scottish Green PartyBeacon Arts CentreGreenockScotland26–27 October

2023 conference season

After 2022'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, with the dates for the 2023 conferences were as follows:
PartyVenueCity/TownCountryDateRef
Trades Union CongressACC LiverpoolLiverpoolEngland10–13 September
Liberal DemocratsBournemouth International CentreBournemouthEngland23–26 September
ConservativesManchester Central Convention ComplexManchesterEngland1–4 October
Plaid CymruAberystwyth Arts CentreAberystwythWales6–7 October
Green Party of England and WalesBrighton CentreBrightonEngland6–8 October
Reform UKHilton London MetropoleLondonEngland7 October
LabourACC LiverpoolLiverpoolEngland8–11 October
Scottish National PartyP&J LiveAberdeenScotland15–17 October
Scottish Green PartyCarnegie Conference CentreDunfermlineScotland28–29 October

2022 conference season

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:

2021 conference season

The Party conferences largely reverted 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:

2020 conference season

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, the Liberal Democrat conference was rescheduled for 25 to 28 September and the Conservative conference for 3 to 6 October. The Scottish National Party conference was the last major party conference of the season, held online from 28 to 30 November.

2019 conference season

The dates and locations of the Autumn 2019 conferences were as follows:
PartyStart dateEnd dateVenueNotes
*Trades Union Congress -Sunday 8 September 2019Wednesday 11 September 2019The Brighton Centre
Liberal DemocratsSaturday 14 September 2019Tuesday 17 September 2019Bournemouth International Centre
LabourSaturday 21 September 2019Wednesday 25 September 2019The Brighton Centre
ConservativesSunday 29 September 2019Wednesday 2 October 2019Manchester Central Convention Complex
Green Party of England and WalesFriday 4 October 2019Sunday 6 October 2019International Convention Centre Wales
Plaid CymruFriday 4 October 2019Sunday 6 October 2019Swansea Grand Theatre
Scottish National PartySunday 13 October 2019Tuesday 15 October 2019The Event Complex Aberdeen
Scottish Green PartySaturday 12 October 2019Sunday 13 October 2019Eden Court Inverness

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.
The dates and locations of other 2019 conferences are as follows:
PartyStart dateEnd dateVenueNotes
Scottish Liberal DemocratsFriday 22 FebruarySaturday 23 FebruaryThe Hamilton Townhouse
Scottish LabourFriday 8 MarchSunday 10 MarchCaird Hall, Dundee
Liberal DemocratsFriday 15 MarchSunday 17 MarchBarbican Centre, York
Plaid CymruFriday 22 MarchSaturday 23 MarchPontio Centre, Bangor
Welsh Liberal DemocratsSaturday 6 AprilSunday 7 AprilMarriott Hotel, Cardiff
Scottish National PartySaturday 27 AprilSunday 28 AprilEdinburgh International Conference Centre
Scottish ConservativesFriday 3 MaySaturday 4 MayAberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
Green Party of England and WalesFriday 7 JuneMonday 10 JuneThe Spa, Scarborough

2018 conference season

The dates and locations of the 2018 conferences were as follows:
PartyStart dateEnd dateVenueNotes
Trades Union CongressSunday 9 SeptemberWednesday 12 SeptemberManchester Central
Liberal DemocratsSaturday 15 SeptemberTuesday 18 SeptemberBrighton Centre
LabourSunday 23 SeptemberWednesday 26 SeptemberACC Liverpool
ConservativesSunday 30 SeptemberWednesday 3 OctoberICC, Birmingham
Scottish ConservativesFriday 2 MarchSaturday 3 MarchAberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
Scottish National PartyFriday 8 JuneSaturday 9 JuneAberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre
UKIPFriday 21 SeptemberSaturday 22 SeptemberICC, Birmingham
Plaid Cymru5 October6 OctoberTheatr Mwldan, Cardigan
Green Party of England and WaleFriday 5 OctoberSunday 7 OctoberCity Hall, Bristol
Libertarian Party UKSaturday 6 OctoberSaturday 6 OctoberMK Conferencing, Milton Keynes
Scottish National PartySunday 7 OctoberTuesday 9 OctoberThe SEC Centre, Glasgow
Cooperative PartyFriday 12 OctoberSunday 14 OctoberMercure Grand Hotel, Bristol
Scottish Green Party20 October21 OctoberUniversity of Strathclyde Technology and Innovation Centre, Glasgow
Women's Equality PartyFriday 7 SeptemberSunday 9 September

2017 conference season

The dates and locations of the 2017 conferences were as follows:
PartyStart dateEnd dateVenueNotes
Liberal DemocratsSaturday 16 SeptemberTuesday 19 SeptemberBournemouth International Centre
LabourSunday 24 SeptemberWednesday 27 SeptemberBrighton Centre
UKIPFriday 29 SeptemberSaturday 30 SeptemberRiviera International Conference Centre in Torquay
ConservativesSunday 1 OctoberWednesday 4 OctoberManchester Central Convention Complex
Green Party of England and WalesSaturday 7 OctoberTuesday 10 OctoberHarrogate International Centre
Scottish National PartySunday 8 OctoberTuesday 10 OctoberThe SEC Centre, Glasgow
Plaid CymruFriday 20 OctoberSaturday 21 OctoberGaleri, Caernarfon
Scottish Green PartySaturday 21 OctoberSunday 22 OctoberEdinburgh Napier University Sighthill Campus, Edinburgh

2016 conference season

The dates and locations of the 2016 conferences were as follows:

2015 conference season

The dates and locations of the 2015 conferences were as follows:
PartyVenueCity/TownCountryDate
Liberal Democrats (UK)Bournemouth International CentreBournemouthEngland19–23 September
UK Independence PartyDoncaster RacecourseDoncasterEngland24–26 September
Green Party of England and WalesBournemouth International CentreBournemouthEngland25–28 September
Labour Party (UK)Brighton CentreBrightonEngland27–30 September
Conservative Party (UK)Manchester CentralManchesterEngland4 October – 7 October
Scottish Green PartyClyde AuditoriumGlasgowScotland10 October – 11 October
Scottish National PartyAberdeen Exhibition and Conference CentreAberdeenScotland15 October – 17 October
Plaid CymruAberystwyth Arts CentreAberystwythWales23 October – 24 October

2014 conference season

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.

2013 conference season

The dates of the 2013 conferences were as follows:

2012 conference season

The dates of the 2012 conferences were as follows: