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:| Party | Venue | City/Town | Country | Date |
| Liberal Democrats | Brighton Centre | Brighton | England | 19–22 September |
| Labour Party | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 27–30 September |
| Conservative Party | International Convention Centre, Birmingham | Birmingham | England | 4 – 8 October |
2025 conference season
The dates for the 2025 conferences are as follows:| Party | Venue | City/Town | Country | Date |
| Reform UK | NEC Birmingham | Birmingham | England | 5–6 September |
| Trades Union Congress | Brighton Centre | Brighton | England | 7–10 September |
| Liberal Democrats | Bournemouth International Centre | Bournemouth | England | 20–23 September |
| Labour Party | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 28 September – 1 October |
| Green Party of England and Wales | Bournemouth International Centre | Bournemouth | England | 3–5 October |
| Conservative Party | Manchester Central Convention Complex | Manchester | England | 5–8 October |
| Plaid Cymru | Brangwyn Hall | Swansea | Wales | 10–11 October |
| Welsh Liberal Democrats | Ramada Plaza | Wrexham | Wales | 10–12 October |
| Scottish National Party | The Event Complex Aberdeen | Aberdeen | Scotland | 11–13 October |
| Scottish Green Party | John McIntyre Conference Centre | Edinburgh | Scotland | 17–19 October |
| Scottish Liberal Democrats | Radisson Blu Hotel | Glasgow | Scotland | 18 October |
| Wales Green Party | Clayton Hotel | Cardiff | Wales | 8–9 November |
| Co-operative Party | TBC | London | England | 15-16 November |
| Your Party | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 29-30 November |
2024 conference season
The dates for the 2024 conferences were as follows:| Party | Venue | City/Town | Country | Date |
| Scottish National Party | Edinburgh International Conference Centre | Edinburgh | Scotland | 30 August – 1 September |
| Green Party of England and Wales | Manchester Central Convention Complex | Manchester | England | 6–8 September |
| Trades Union Congress | Brighton Centre | Brighton | England | 8–11 September |
| Liberal Democrats | Brighton Centre | Brighton | England | 14–17 September |
| Reform Party | NEC Birmingham | Marston Green | England | 20–21 September |
| Labour Party | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 22–25 September |
| Conservative Party | International Convention Centre, Birmingham | Birmingham | England | 29 September – 2 October |
| Plaid Cymru | Principality Stadium | Cardiff | Wales | 11–12 October |
| Scottish Green Party | Beacon Arts Centre | Greenock | Scotland | 26–27 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:| Party | Venue | City/Town | Country | Date | Ref |
| Trades Union Congress | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 10–13 September | |
| Liberal Democrats | Bournemouth International Centre | Bournemouth | England | 23–26 September | |
| Conservatives | Manchester Central Convention Complex | Manchester | England | 1–4 October | |
| Plaid Cymru | Aberystwyth Arts Centre | Aberystwyth | Wales | 6–7 October | |
| Green Party of England and Wales | Brighton Centre | Brighton | England | 6–8 October | |
| Reform UK | Hilton London Metropole | London | England | 7 October | |
| Labour | ACC Liverpool | Liverpool | England | 8–11 October | |
| Scottish National Party | P&J Live | Aberdeen | Scotland | 15–17 October | |
| Scottish Green Party | Carnegie Conference Centre | Dunfermline | Scotland | 28–29 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:- Liberal Democrats - Brighton Centre - Planned Saturday 17 September to Tuesday 20 September
- Labour - ACC Liverpool - Sunday 25 September to Wednesday 28 September
- Green Party of England and Wales - Harrogate Convention Centre - Friday 30 September to Sunday 2 October
- Reform UK - Birmingham - Sunday 2 October
- Conservatives - International Convention Centre, Birmingham - Sunday 2 October to Wednesday 5 October
- Trades Union Congress - Brighton Centre - Tuesday 18 October to Thursday 20 October