The political landscape at the 2024 party conference season was very different to a year ago. A new Labour Government is trying to deliver on its promises while in Opposition, the Conservatives Party are trying to regroup and elect a new Leader, and the Liberal Democrats are buoyant after their recent electoral gains.
What does this mean for London? At a time when growth is at the top of the political agenda, the capital’s role in getting our economy firing on all cylinders is increasingly coming to the fore.
BusinessLDN attended the three main party conferences to forge new links across the political spectrum and make the case for how a successful London benefits the whole UK and vice versa.
BusinessLDN at Lib Dem Conference
Our Deputy Chief Executive, Muniya Barua spoke at a London Councils panel discussion on growth in London, tackling the issues around housing and transport as an enabler and supporting Londoners to live and work in the capital. This builds on our strong involvement on the Liberal Democrat business forum and we look forward to continuing this engagement with the Party, following their recent reshuffle.
BusinessLDN at Labour Party Conference
In a very wet Liverpool, the Labour Party gathered for its first annual conference in government for 15 years, with a central focus on delivering its five missions. The Chancellor stressed the importance of investment in driving growth, and we welcomed the Prime Minister’s intention to make economic stability and growth the Government’s first priority, working ‘hand in hand with business’. Private investment has a key role to support Labour’s ambitious agenda so business will be keen to have visibility and input on new employment legislation, planning reform, infrastructure investment, skills initiatives and devolution to major cities.
At our Sunday evening reception – sponsored by London Gatwick Airport and The Earls Court Development Company — we heard from Cllr Claire Holland, Chair of London Councils and Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth about this new era of politics, the need to make London succeed and get ahead internationally. The new London Growth Plan, which we are helping to shape alongside our members, will play a key role in delivering this vision.
We also held a roundtable discussion with Ballymore on housing-led town centre regeneration. The overriding messages were to be brave about town centres, create a stronger link between planning and delivery, be clearer on what regeneration will look like and the need for genuine partnership between local authorities and developers to deliver in the long-term.
Our second roundtable discussion sponsored by Arcadis focused on the role of housing in underpinning UK-wide economic growth and prosperity. We discussed the practicalities on achieving Labour’s mission to deliver 1.5million homes, including affordable housing, freeing capacity in under-utilised homes, improving the planning system and how we can do things differently to meet the demands for capacity.
BusinessLDN at Conservative Party Conference
The mood in Birmingham was surprisingly upbeat despite their recent electoral performance and the weather. The event was inevitably dominated by the leadership contest and conversations focused on the future direction of the Party.
At our Sunday evening reception, sponsored by DLA Piper and DeHavilland, we welcomed Cllr Elizabeth Campbell, Leader, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and Jason Perry, Mayor of Croydon, who spoke about London’s potential as the UK engine for growth and the importance of the London Growth Plan. There was strong support for London to be granted trailblazer status, as highlighted in our recent paper which looks at the economic business case for devolution.
Our Chief Executive John Dickie and Deputy Chief Executive Muniya Barua also spoke at panel discussions respectively on aviation’s role in making the UK a services superpower with Manchester Airports Group and delivering skills excellence with NCFE, an awarding organisation and registered educational charity.
Making the case for a globally competitive London that supports growth across the UK will be essential to deliver on the Government’s missions. This month’s International Investment Summit, the Autumn Budget and our own forthcoming Winter Parliamentary Reception will make for a busy end to the year as we continue to engage with the major political parties on the key issues that matter for business.
To discuss plans for the 2025 party conferences or discuss sponsorship packages please get in touch with gloria.liu@businessldn.co.uk or alex.stevenson@businessldn.co.uk.