LONDON — Britain’s party conference circuit is not to be missed this year, with a new prime minister in No. 10 Downing Street and multiple parties in the running to replace him. But with the cost of joining the fall schmoozing circuit soaring, even Britain’s biggest lobbyists are concerned they could be priced out of the engagement carousel. Two lobbyists said they were quoted £5,500 to attend this year’s business day at Labour conference — an industry-focused event that is distinct from the main conference agenda.
That’s up from £5,000 last year, and £3,000 in 2024 — an 83 percent increase in just two years. The figures all exclude the consumption tax VAT. With opinion polls in flux, lobbyists now feel compelled to invest in attending more conferences, including standalone business events put on by parties like Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Multiple industry professionals — some of whom were granted anonymity to speak frankly about the impact on their business — told POLITICO that they had planned to cut back their presence at the ruling Labour Party conference if ex-Prime Minister Keir Starmer had still been in power. But Burnham’s elevation to Downing Street, and the need to get clarity on his agenda, meant scaling back was too big a risk. One senior in-house public affairs leader said the leadership shuffle had seen two executives now opting to attend in addition to the original core team members they had planned to attend Labour’s business bash — adding a further £11,000 to the firm’s conference bill for those tickets alone.
After the party’s 2024 event fell so flat that firms demanded refunds, it stepped up its game for last year’s gathering — often jokingly referred to by industry pros as the “CEO creche.” But business leaders are now privately questioning whether inflation-busting cost hikes can remain defensible given the increasingly tight margins on which many firms are operating. A second public affairs executive at a major trade body said their mid-term presence had been subject to a big debate in the office, but the Burnham bounce meant that “what looked like a bit of a gamble has turned into a good bet.” “We’ve definitely pared back our presence at the opposition conferences, as much because we can’t justify the time out of the office as much as the cost of going,” that lobbyist said. One public affairs company with event space in the Liverpool secure zone at Labour conference is charging between £10,000 and £15,000 to host a one-hour panel session, a pricing document seen by POLITICO suggests.
Multiple public affairs executives said that is standard pricing, and often doesn’t include prices for catering and AV support. Even the most basic presence at Labour conference is getting increasingly expensive. A commercial guest pass now costs £1,820.
That’s up from £1,600 last year, which in itself was a rise of over £500 from the previous year. The ticket price for a third-sector attendee — including charity staff — has now hit £645, up from £552 last year, which was already more than double the cost from 2023. Alexander Gray, deputy director for external affairs at Energy UK, said: “The thing now, compared to previous years, is obviously having to split conference budgets potentially up to five or seven ways if you need to be present at all the major ones.”Gray said the cost “that stung the most recently” was the “£500 plus” charge for a microphone — without a lectern — for “what you know is a three-minute speech.” Those wanting to raise a toast via their £166-a-minute microphone are facing even steeper costs.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
