The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. It takes place every year around October during the British party conference season, when the House of Commons is usually in recess. The event's location has alternated between Birmingham's International Convention Centre (ICC) and Manchester's Central Convention Complex since 2008. Previously, it had alternated between Blackpool and Bournemouth. In contrast to the Liberal Democrat Conference, where every party member attending its Conference, either in-person or online, has the right to vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system, or the Labour Party Conference, where 50% of votes are allocated to affiliated organisations (such as trade unions), and in which all voting is restricted to nominated representatives (known as delegates), the Conservative Party Conference does not hold votes on party policy.
The Conference, which consists of fringe events, receptions, and speeches, gives Conservative Party members, the press, and the public a chance to learn about the party's ideas and policies for the year ahead. The focal event is the leader's speech, which is given by the incumbent Leader of the Conservative Party at the end of conference. In some special circumstances, the leader will make a speech at the opening of conference. An exhibition area is also featured every year allowing businesses and Conservative Party-affiliated organisations to promote their brands and messages from exhibition stands throughout the conference period.
The Chairman of the Conservative Party Conference is always the current President of the National Conservative Convention, the parliament of the Voluntary Party. The National Convention meets twice a year—its Annual General Meeting is usually held at Spring Forum, with another meeting usually held at the Party Conference. Since 2017, the Democratic Unionist Party has hosted an annual reception at the conference, owing to the alliance between the two parties in the 2017–2019 parliament.
Conferences
Winston Churchill leadership
1953 Margate
The 1953 conference took place in Margate. Winston Churchill's speech took place on 10 October. He had recovered from an acute stroke in June of the same year; Anthony Eden wrote in his diary that Churchill intended to use his speech at the conference to "try himself out," before he returned to work in Parliament. He had initially written an hour long speech of 4000 words, but reduced this to 50 minutes following advice from his doctor Charles Wilson, 1st Baron Moran, who also prescribed him either Edrisal or Drinamyl tablets. He was also given throat spray before the speech.
Margaret Thatcher leadership
1980 Brighton
The 1980 conference was headed by Margaret Thatcher in Brighton. Her speech on 10 October included the line “you turn if you want to. The lady’s not for turning!”
1984 Brighton
During the 1984 conference, held in Brighton, the Provisional Irish Republican Army targeted the government in a hotel bombing on 12 October. While it did not kill any Cabinet members, it killed five people and injured thirty four. Despite this, Thatcher insisted the conference begin at 9:30 a.m., and in her speech she stated "this attack has failed. All attempts to destroy democracy by terrorism will fail."
Iain Duncan Smith leadership
2003 Blackpool
At the 2003 conference in Blackpool, party leader Iain Duncan Smith stated in his speech; "to the prime minister, I say this: the quiet man is here to stay, and he's turning up the volume!"
David Cameron leadership
2015 Manchester
Prime Minister David Cameron headed the 2015 conference in Manchester. On its opening day, a protest of up to 60 thousand anti-austerity protestors marched in Manchester, with a small group of protesters egging a young Conservative member attending the event. Party chairman Andrew Feldman had emailed members to remove their Conservative Party branded identification badges when outside the venue.
Theresa May made her speech on 6 October, and Cameron made his speech on 7 October. During his speech, he attacked Labour for not helping working people, labelled Jeremy Corbyn as soft on ISIS and Osama bin Laden, addressed a "refugee crisis," and made a defence of EU membership.
Theresa May leadership
2016 Birmingham
At the 2016 conference in Birmingham, Prime Minister Theresa May addressed the conference on its opening day in her speech "Global Britain: Making a success of Brexit."