Stewart Harper is Chairman of Party Conference 2025 and President of the National Convention.
In just a few days’ time, Conservatives from every corner of the country will head to Manchester. As Chairman of this year’s Conference, it will be my privilege to welcome members (including many Young Conservatives), parliamentarians, councillors, businesses, charities, representatives of our sister parties abroad, and friends.
It promises to be one of the most important conferences in years. Registrations this year are high, and Conference is set to be as vibrant as ever.
Conference comes at a pivotal moment for our Party and for our country. It also coincides with two historic anniversaries: the centenary of Margaret Thatcher’s birth, and the fiftieth anniversary of her election as our Leader. For many of us, her leadership was the spark that ignited our interest in politics. For all of us, her example of rebuilding and redefining a movement following electoral defeat is a reminder of what conviction, courage, and conservative principles can achieve.
Thatcher did not apologise for being a Conservative – and nor should we. She believed in Britain’s future when others had written it off. Just listen to a Farage speech; he talks Britain down and tries to convince us all to despair. Endless unfunded spending commitments. Division and bitterness.
We must reject this relentlessly negative portrayal of our country. While every other political party tells us how bad things are, we must demonstrate how great they could be.
In the same way, Thatcher proved that clear vision and determination can unleash talent and industry. So must we once again. That is the spirit we need now. Not timidity. Not apology. Not looking to the past. But boldness, belief, and confidence in our values.
Since we last met in Birmingham, our Party has faced both challenge and change. Our new Leader has begun a serious programme of renewal. This year’s conference offers our first opportunity, together and in person, to take stock and to map the road ahead. It is a chance to recommit ourselves – to our Party, to our country, and to the British people who are already very weary of Labour. A public that isn’t ready to trust us quite yet, with this conference an opportunity to demonstrate how we’ve changed.
When people ask me what makes our Party Conference what it is, my answer is simple: it is us – the members. This year’s agenda has been deliberately designed to put members at the centre.
The success of last year’s member debates has been built upon and expanded, with dedicated debates across the week, where members will be the speakers and have the microphone – giving grassroots Conservatives more say in shaping our policies and our future. And a backbench ‘Bill Off’ where members can pitch their policy ideas to a panel on the main stage.
And many of the sessions led by the shadow cabinet will be more interactive too, with Q&As, debates, and votes so attendees can contribute, rather than just stay in listening mode.
The ever-popular fringe has nearly 370 debates, panel discussions and receptions. More opportunity to get involved and contribute your views.
And that’s before the talking space offered by the bars of the Midland Hotel, and Junction (the great new venue in Manchester Central), which are often the venue for the most passionate discussions long into the night. All sat alongside everything that the great northern city of Manchester has to offer.
So, to those who will be joining us for the first time, a warm welcome. I can promise you will find both inspiration and friendship (and make sure to attend the New Delegate Meet and Greet event on the Sunday). To the delegate who is attending his sixty-second consecutive Conference, I promise there will still be something new to discover – and thousands of people to meet.
Don’t forget what is at stake. Labour’s honeymoon lasted roughly a week, but their grip on office remains. The principle-free Liberal Democrats lurk in the background, eagerly forcing Sir Ed Davey to humiliate himself in more and more imaginative ways (except by apologising to post office workers). And then there is high spending Reform, hoping no one notices the billions of pounds commitments they’ve already made. Next to Nigel Farage, even Rachel Reeves looks slightly responsible.
As always, it falls to us, as sensible, moderate, conservatives to provide the serious alternative: grounded in sound economics and spreading security and opportunity, and driven by values of hard work, responsibility, and aspiration.
But we have to be clear: that alternative will not be built by Kemi Badenoch and the Shadow Cabinet alone. It will be built by each and every member. On the doorsteps, in our communities, in our workplaces. Those who knock on doors, win. And we must knock early, often, and with conviction.
Manchester will be where we continue our renewal, announce new policies, and prepare for elections in local government, for mayoralties, in the Senedd, and in Holyrood next May.
Because this Conference is our chance to prove the doubters wrong. Our chance to show Britain that the Conservative Party is not finished, not defeated, but getting ready to lead again. I’m glad all of you coming to Conference will be part of that – and I look forward to seeing you there.
Stewart Harper is Chairman of Party Conference 2025 and President of the National Convention.
In just a few days’ time, Conservatives from every corner of the country will head to Manchester. As Chairman of this year’s Conference, it will be my privilege to welcome members (including many Young Conservatives), parliamentarians, councillors, businesses, charities, representatives of our sister parties abroad, and friends.
It promises to be one of the most important conferences in years. Registrations this year are high, and Conference is set to be as vibrant as ever.
Conference comes at a pivotal moment for our Party and for our country. It also coincides with two historic anniversaries: the centenary of Margaret Thatcher’s birth, and the fiftieth anniversary of her election as our Leader. For many of us, her leadership was the spark that ignited our interest in politics. For all of us, her example of rebuilding and redefining a movement following electoral defeat is a reminder of what conviction, courage, and conservative principles can achieve.
Thatcher did not apologise for being a Conservative – and nor should we. She believed in Britain’s future when others had written it off. Just listen to a Farage speech; he talks Britain down and tries to convince us all to despair. Endless unfunded spending commitments. Division and bitterness.
We must reject this relentlessly negative portrayal of our country. While every other political party tells us how bad things are, we must demonstrate how great they could be.
In the same way, Thatcher proved that clear vision and determination can unleash talent and industry. So must we once again. That is the spirit we need now. Not timidity. Not apology. Not looking to the past. But boldness, belief, and confidence in our values.
Since we last met in Birmingham, our Party has faced both challenge and change. Our new Leader has begun a serious programme of renewal. This year’s conference offers our first opportunity, together and in person, to take stock and to map the road ahead. It is a chance to recommit ourselves – to our Party, to our country, and to the British people who are already very weary of Labour. A public that isn’t ready to trust us quite yet, with this conference an opportunity to demonstrate how we’ve changed.
When people ask me what makes our Party Conference what it is, my answer is simple: it is us – the members. This year’s agenda has been deliberately designed to put members at the centre.
The success of last year’s member debates has been built upon and expanded, with dedicated debates across the week, where members will be the speakers and have the microphone – giving grassroots Conservatives more say in shaping our policies and our future. And a backbench ‘Bill Off’ where members can pitch their policy ideas to a panel on the main stage.
And many of the sessions led by the shadow cabinet will be more interactive too, with Q&As, debates, and votes so attendees can contribute, rather than just stay in listening mode.
The ever-popular fringe has nearly 370 debates, panel discussions and receptions. More opportunity to get involved and contribute your views.
And that’s before the talking space offered by the bars of the Midland Hotel, and Junction (the great new venue in Manchester Central), which are often the venue for the most passionate discussions long into the night. All sat alongside everything that the great northern city of Manchester has to offer.
So, to those who will be joining us for the first time, a warm welcome. I can promise you will find both inspiration and friendship (and make sure to attend the New Delegate Meet and Greet event on the Sunday). To the delegate who is attending his sixty-second consecutive Conference, I promise there will still be something new to discover – and thousands of people to meet.
Don’t forget what is at stake. Labour’s honeymoon lasted roughly a week, but their grip on office remains. The principle-free Liberal Democrats lurk in the background, eagerly forcing Sir Ed Davey to humiliate himself in more and more imaginative ways (except by apologising to post office workers). And then there is high spending Reform, hoping no one notices the billions of pounds commitments they’ve already made. Next to Nigel Farage, even Rachel Reeves looks slightly responsible.
As always, it falls to us, as sensible, moderate, conservatives to provide the serious alternative: grounded in sound economics and spreading security and opportunity, and driven by values of hard work, responsibility, and aspiration.
But we have to be clear: that alternative will not be built by Kemi Badenoch and the Shadow Cabinet alone. It will be built by each and every member. On the doorsteps, in our communities, in our workplaces. Those who knock on doors, win. And we must knock early, often, and with conviction.
Manchester will be where we continue our renewal, announce new policies, and prepare for elections in local government, for mayoralties, in the Senedd, and in Holyrood next May.
Because this Conference is our chance to prove the doubters wrong. Our chance to show Britain that the Conservative Party is not finished, not defeated, but getting ready to lead again. I’m glad all of you coming to Conference will be part of that – and I look forward to seeing you there.