The Conservative Party Conference, which took place earlier this week in Birmingham, was the last of the major events in conference season.
Following the July election, Conservative MPs and activists gathered in the International Convention Centre (ICC) to reflect on what happened and pick their next leader.
The Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade’s UK public affairs lead, Grace Thompson, gives her major takeaways from the Conservative party conference.
Mood music
The four-day event felt less like a traditional political conference and more like a leadership contest.
In between conversations, or walking through halls, there would be sudden and sporadic outbursts of cheering and clapping, as leadership candidates walked by with their respective entourages of supporters.
The mood was widely predicted to be a gloomy one ahead of the conference, held only months after the Conservative Party suffered one of its worst-ever results.
Instead, a certain vitality came from the drama of the four leadership candidates vying for support – one of whom is former business and trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch.
The three other contenders are former security minister Tom Tugendhat, former foreign secretary James Cleverly and former immigration minister Robert Jenrick.
Instead of the traditional mix of business leaders, politicians and party activists, the conference seemed largely dominated by young party activists hoping to see change personified in one of the candidates.
Trade policy
Although none of the candidates talked in any depth on trade policy in their appearances at receptions, trade did rear its head throughout the conference.
Tees Valley mayor, Lord Ben Houchen, was particularly cognizant of the role which trade plays in supporting the UK’s economic growth during his interview with Professor Anand Menon, director of UK in a Changing Europe.
Lord Houchen was speaking at an event hosted by the Chartered Institute and the Spectator.
When asked by director general of the Chartered Institute, Marco Forgione, how he felt that the UK could succeed in driving both inward investment and export growth, Lord Houchen echoed previous recommendations that the Chartered Institute has put forward on exporting, particularly “how we engage more effectively with local communities and help businesses to export”.
Air freight
Exporting was also a key theme of another particularly interesting fringe event, hosted by Manchester Airport Group, looked at the topic of ‘Island trading nation: Aviation’s role in making the UK a services superpower’.
John Dickie, CEO at BusinessLDN, said “we are an island trading nation” and that “we need to be internationally competitive”, adding that the UK needs to consider how to do so in a “net zero-compliant way”.
He added that airport capacity was also crucial so that the UK can compete effectively for business. Baroness Charlotte Vere, former parliamentary under-secretary for transport, raised the point that wider infrastructure plays a significant role in the success of aviation success, as good roads are crucial for connectivity to airports.
In 2022, the Chartered Institute partnered with Flint Global to research the challenges facing traders moving goods moving across the border. The research noted ‘distance to airport’ as a key factor of connectivity – a pillar which supports strong services export potential in the UK’s nations and regions.
Andy Brown, group corporate affairs director at Manchester Airport Group, noted the importance of putting aerospace as a key strand within the government’s future industrial strategy.
Leadership maneuvers
With the winner of the leadership election not due to be announced until 2 November – after even the Autumn Budget on 30 November – engagement for businesses at the Conservative conference looked a little different to usual.
The current members of the shadow cabinet are not all likely to retain the same posts under a new leader. Businesses which attended were aware that they were speaking with Conservative frontbenchers who might not hold that same position in a few months’ time.
The next round of the contest is due next week, when Tory MPs narrow the field from four to two, before members get the chance pick the winner from the final pair.
The eventual winner will then pick their own frontbench, with each likely to promote and demote various incumbents.
