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Parliament has now returned, so we are reflecting back on our collective activity over party conference season. Political party conferences are key dates in the diary for lobbying organisations as prime opportunities to have front row access to all MPs, peers, Councillors, advisers and delegates in one place, as well as the opportunity to host events to showcase our work to key stakeholders.
Labour Party Conference
All eyes were on Labour’s conference in Liverpool with much anticipation around their first party conference in Government since 2009.
Alongside the Food and Drinks Federation, we hosted a reception on the Sunday evening of conference. This was a packed event celebrating all the work our sector does to serve Britain, and was supported by many MPs including:
• Fleur Anderson MP for Putney
• Zubir Ahmed MP for Glasgow South
• Rupa Huq MP for Ealing Central and Acton
• Yasmin Qureshi MP for Bolton South
• Kirith Entwistle MP for Bolton North East
• Sarah Edwards MP for Tamworth
• Tan Dhesi MP for Slough
The UKHospitality team were busy attending many fringe events on topics such as town and city centre regeneration, with Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram, Labour’s election coalition EDI in the workforce, making work work for parents through flexibility, and preventing violence against women in the nighttime economy, to name but a few.
We also heard from Justin Madders MP, the Employment Minister, talking about the New Deal for Working People, as well as Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State of Culture, Media and Sport, who spoke about the importance of good jobs in every community, not just London and the South East.
As part of the steering group of the APPG for Beer, we supported its reception, hosted by Greene King, where we heard from the group’s new Chair, Tonia Antoniazzi MP for Gower. This annual reception showcases the brilliant pubs we have in every constituency in the UK as well as conveying to politicians the importance of our industry and the necessity for action at the Budget.
As part of our ongoing regional engagement with the metro mayors, we met with David Skaith, Mayor for York and North Yorkshire to discuss how hospitality creates places where people want to live, work and invest and how we can work together to bring more prosperity to the region through local hospitality jobs for local people. On Tuesday, just before the Prime Minister’s address, we held a panel discussion called ‘Serving Britain: how hospitality SMEs can deliver recovery’.
Our panellist included our very own Kate Nicholls, Lewis Atkinson MP for Sunderland, Chris Webb Chair of the Hospitality and Tourism APPG and MP for Blackpool South and chaired by Sonia Kumar MP for Dudley. With hospitality having a footprint in every community and every constituency in the UK this was a key opportunity to engage further with the potential hospitality has to drive economic growth and regeneration. In the right conditions hospitality can produce 5% growth year on year for the economy and produce 500,000 new jobs.
Conservative Party Conference
While the Conservative Party suffered their worst election defeat in history in July, as the Official Opposition it is key that trade associations engage with Conservative MPs as we seek to hold the Government to account on their pledges for the hospitality sector.
We met with all four of the (then) next potential Conservative Party leaders: James Cleverly MP, Kemi Badenoch MP, Tom Tugendhat MP and Robert Jenrick MP, and used this opportunity to talk to them about business rates in light of the upcoming Budget. We also chatted with DCMS Select Committee Chair, Caroline Dinenage MP, and met Shadow Ministers, including Mimms Davies, Shadow Women and Equalities Minister, Shadow DEFRA Secretary, Steve Barclay MP and Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Nigel Huddleston MP.
On the Monday night of conference, we held our annual UKHospitality Conservative conference dinner which was attended by our valued members, Members of Parliament, members of the House of Lords and London Assembly and industry partners. We became acquainted with the new intake of Conservative MPs including Lewis Cocking, MP for Broxbourne and Jack Rankin MP for Windsor. Both Steve Barclay MP and Nigel Huddleston MP spoke at the dinner reiterating their support for the sector. Our thanks goes to all our members who attended the dinner as well as Leonardo Hotels, who kindly hosted the dinner and Molson Coors who sponsored the dinner.
The team attended fringe events relating to the hospitality sector making sure the voice of our members was heard by MPs. We attended panel discussion on skills and apprenticeships where the case was made for a more flexible apprenticeship levy, the importance of the music industry to the nighttime economy and how hospitality can rejuvenate local communities. We also attended an event on ‘How the Conservatives can save London’s nightlife’ with Assembly Member Emma Best. We also supported the APPG for Beer’s reception with Vice Chair Greg Smith. He spoke about the need for policies that help hospitality businesses not just survive but thrive.
We look forward to working with the next leader of the Opposition to hold the Government to account for their pledges for the hospitality sector.
