The Conservative Party Conference (CPC) is a four-day national conference event held by the Conservative Party in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It takes place every year around October during the British

party conference season In the United Kingdom the party conference season is the period of three weeks in September and October of each year, whilst the House of Commons is in recess, in which the annual political party conferences are held. The Conservative Party Co ...

, when the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

is in recess. The event's location has alternated between Birmingham's International Convention Centre (ICC) and Manchester's Central Convention Complex since 2008. Previously, it had alternated between Blackpool and Bournemouth. In contrast to the

Liberal Democrat Conference The Liberal Democrat Conference, also known inside the party as the ''Liberal Democrat Federal Conference'', is a twice-per-year political conference of the British Liberal Democrats, the third-largest political party in the UK by the number of ...

, where every party member attending its Conference, in person or Online, has the right to vote on party policy, under a one member, one vote system, or the

Labour Party Conference The Labour Party Conference is the annual conference of the British Labour Party. It is formally the supreme decision-making body of the party and is traditionally held in the final week of September, during the party conference season when th ...

, where 50% of votes are allocated to affiliated organisations (such as trade unions), and in which all voting is restricted to nominated representatives (known as delegates), the Conservative Party Conference does not hold votes on party policy. The Conference, which consists of fringe events, receptions, and speeches, gives Conservative Party members, the press, and the public a chance to learn about the party's ideas and policies for the year ahead. The focal event is the leader's speech, which is given by the incumbent Leader of the Conservative Party at the end of conference. In some special circumstances, the leader will make a speech at the opening of conference. At the 2016 Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

addressed the conference on its opening day in her speech "Global Britain: Making a success of

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

." At the 2017 conference, Theresa May suffered from a combination of a prankster handing her a P45, a hacking cough, and the words on the set collapsing behind her. An exhibition area is also featured every year allowing businesses and Conservative Party-affiliated organisations to promote their brands and messages from exhibition stands throughout the conference period. The Chairman of the Conservative Party Conference is always the current President of the National Conservative Convention, the parliament of the Voluntary Party. The National Convention meets twice a year—its Annual General Meeting is usually held at Spring Forum, with another meeting usually held at the Party Conference. Since 2017, the Democratic Unionist Party has hosted an annual reception at the conference, owing to the

alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

between the two parties in the 2017-2019 parliament.

References

External links

Conservative Conference Website
{{UK Conservative Party Annual events in the United Kingdom Conferences Conferences in the United Kingdom Political conferences Political events Political events in the United Kingdom Political party assemblies

See also

References

External links