Our conference must feel less like an in joke

By David Lammy MP

We are at our best when we let our values do the talking. We have never needed to spin the benefits of the Race Relations Act, civil partnerships or the minimum wage – all were so obviously informed by our core beliefs in fairness, equality and justice. Not only were the changes driven by our values, but they resonated even beyond those who benefited from them because we didn’t just work with the people calling for the change – we were the people calling for the change. We immersed ourselves in those campaigns; we opened ourselves up to non-members who were also working to make the world a better place; and we delivered that change.

However, sometimes it seems that the way we run our party conference hasn’t been informed by those victories. Don’t get me wrong – I love the opportunity to meet old friends and to debate with old comrades. However, sometimes, it feels that meeting old friends is all that conference is for.When we return home on Thursday, it doesn’t feel that we have pushed back the boundaries of unfairness, inequality and injustice. And it certainly doesn’t feel that we have spoken to anybody who isn’t a member or a corporate lobbyist.

This isn’t what conference should be about – because it doesn’t reflect who we are as a party. Given the scale of our defeat last year, we need to once again immerse ourselves in campaigns and people who may think the same way we do, but who have never been to a GC. Or an EC. Or an LGC. The place to start that is our annual set piece event – conference. Every local party should be given a target of bringing a certain number of local campaigners to meet us at conference.

Imagine if every local party brought just five people and made sure that they felt at home with Labour, and that we were concerned about the same things that they are concerned about. Instantly, over 3000 local activists would know that campaigning for Labour and campaigning for local change is the same thing. The tone of our conversation with civil society would be transformed.

However, to do this, we must change the tone of our conference. Conference must feel less like an in-joke that we all understand but that leaves the rest of the country baffled. It must feel like an interesting conversation which everyone wants to join. Conference will still be a venue for a Labour conversation between Labour people. But why should we waste the opportunity to showcase Labour’s campaigning values at our most celebrated annual event? The contrast with the Tory conference would be fantastic – rows of grey-haired ‘activists’ listening to speeches, versus room after room of local campaigners working out for themselves how they can achieve the changes they want to see with Labour.

If I sound like an evangelist, that’s because I am. Ask Gisela Stuart in Birmingham – she won last year because she broke down the difference between local campaigns and Labour campaigns. We’re all playing catch-up with Gisela, but conference can give us a helping hand. Let’s open conference up to everyone working for a better country. And let’s turn the in-joke against the Tories.