Things have changed at Labour conference since the days when Denis Healey had just three minutes to explain the IMF crisis, or the conference was more bunfight than debate. These days there is debate and discussion but the acrimonious atmosphere of yesteryear is gone. The media may complain that our discussions are dull and business-like compared to the high dramas of Labour s past but delegates know that we need fewer staged fights and more genuinely challenging debates to ensure that all voices are heard, that leaders are held to account and that members are in the driving seat.
There s still some way to go to make sure CLP or individual union members feel their voices carry enough weight. But the newly introduced question and answer sessions with ministers in the main hall and the morning delegate-only sessions with ministerial teams, are much more useful to party members than a televised set-piece debate amongst a few heavyweights that s been rehearsed and carved up well in advance.
That s not to say conference is without some drama and excitement. Few will forget the passionate speech by Nelson Mandela in 2000 or some of the barnstorming addresses by Blair, Brown and the rest.
But it is the delegates sent from across the UK, by every part of the Labour movement, who are the real stars. The delegates, representing unions big and small, constituencies across Britain, and the associations affiliated to Labour, make the conference the success that it is. Conference must be a platform for debate and for dissent. It is the place where those who disagree with the government on pensions, Europe or its policy on Iraq must have their say and be heard by members of the cabinet. No other party can boast that. But when the dissent has been expressed and the debate been had, there is a vote and the Labour movement makes up its mind. That is the essence of our party democracy.
With the world watching and the memories of September 11 with us, this year s debates about the international challenges we will face in coming months will be crucial. Never will our regard for Labour s values of internationalism and freedom be more necessary.
Conference has its own traditions. The leader s speech on the Tuesday afternoon has been in place since the days of Clem Attlee, when it was billed as the Parliamentary Report . The rallying cry by John Prescott at the end of conference sends delegates off inspired and fired up for electoral battles ahead. And the fringe meetings allow space for serious discussion and thought and plenty to eat and drink as well.
The best thing about conference, for me, is not the set-piece speeches or sitting on the platform as an NEC member. It is the informal comradeship and camaraderie of the bars and hotels afterwards. Here friendships are renewed, news exchanged and you get a real sense that being Labour is about being part of a wider movement. The real Labour Party conference takes place away from the TV cameras, on the fringe and in the socials where we are reminded that the Labour Party is not its leaders, but its members.