As John Prescott marks 50 years of party conferences, Paul Richards gives you his top ten tips, ranging from seeing some stars, dawdling near journalists looking important having at least one early night (if possible) and visiting Bookmarks…
There was a certain amount of ‘I’ve been to more Labour party conferences than you’ going on this week on that medium of choice, Twitter. Luke Akehurst could boast 16, with the weak excuse of the birth of his first child as the reason for missing 2005. I was proud of my 20 not out, until Tom Watson trumped it with an appearance at the 1986 conference (although with a few gaps along the way). But all of us were put in the shade by John Prescott, who will celebrate his fiftieth appearance at Labour party conference. Fifty years of conference, and still going strong. I hope there’s some kind of award.
Most of the delegates at Labour party conference are there for the first time. For many it’s their only time. It can be a bewildering experience. So, with the wisdom of all those years, and because I am too busy to write a proper column this week, here are my top tentips for Labour party conference.
1. Plan your days. You have been helpfully supplied with a fringe guide and an agenda will be there when you arrive. Take one pen. Mark all of the things you want to do and see. Once conference starts, it’s a whirlwind. Without a plan, you’ll end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.
2. Mix it up. Don’t just follow the speakers and events you agree with. Get some balance. Try the Tribune Rally, not just the Progress Rally. See what the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy has to say (the same as last year, probably). Attend a couple of smaller, non-glamorous events, where often the debate is much better.
3. See some stars. Like Elvis in Vegas, you’ve got to see Tony Benn speak at least once. Hang out with Billy Bragg. Ask a question to a Miliband or Jon Cruddas. Get some solid Labour celebrities under your belt, so you have stories to tell the folks back home.
4. Have one reasonably early night. The temptation to stay in the hotel bar until 5am may be too great to resist. But you can’t do it every night. So plan one night when you get to see the newspaper headlines on Newsnight, and then feel smug the next morning when everyone else looks like death warmed up.
5. Get on TV. You could try to be interviewed as part of the broadcasters’ vox pops. Much more fun is to get on the TV during live interviews by standing in the background, or walking behind Laura Kuenssberg or Jon Craig looking important.
6. Have one meal that involves a knife and fork. Free chicken goujons and battered prawns will get you some of the way. But eventually, you’ll need to sit and eat a proper meal. Manchester, unlike some other conference destinations (yes you, Blackpool), has a wide range of excellent restaurants. Try the curry mile in Rusholme for decent Indian food (made by Bangladeshi chefs, natch).
7. Make a speech. Or at the very least ask a question in a fringe meeting. Have your say at conference, don’t leave it to the politicians and policy wonks.
8. Try staying still. Most of conference is on the move, most of the time, like fish swimming round a tank. Try staking out a spot on a comfy chair, and watch conference pass you by. Eventually, everyone you know will walk past, and stop and say hello. My record is six hours.
9. Take notes if your local party is expecting a report back. Like a wedding, it all happens fast and furious, and you’ll forget the details. Make a note, and you can present to your next GC an impressive list of activities.
10. Buy some presents for your friends back home. I can recommend a great little book just published, and on sale at the Bookmarks stand at conference, called Labour’s Revival. It’s the perfect read for the journey home.
This is our first conference after leaving government since 1980. It’s the first ever when the result of the leadership election is unguessable. It will be historic, one way or another, so let’s just enjoy it. If you do as well as Prescott, you might still be coming to conference in 2040.
Paul Richards’ new book Labour’s Revival is published this weekend, available here