It's that time of year when Party Conferences are occurring. While most parties have just about finished their 4 day sessions of sound bites, auto-cues and fringe events, the SNP (Scottish National Party) have just begun theirs. Thankfully their conference is only 3 days. Even though I've been interested and fascinated by politics for nearly a year, I am still yearning for a reason, point and aim to all these Party Conferences. Because from what I've seen so far, their costs far outweigh any benefits.
Firstly, what is a Party Conference? Every September to October, each of the mainstream political parties assembles at a giant venue to discuss policy matters, raise new policy ideas and elect leaders if necessary. Sounds interesting and needed, you may think. Well, what do we as the public actually see? TV coverage only shows speeches by Cabinet/Shadow Cabinet members which usually contains minor policy implementations and spends lots of time bashing the other political parties. Speeches are often not written by the person given them and contain a number of soundbites which are forgotten or not implemented after the conference has finished. The audience listening gives thunderous applause after nearly every sentence which is not only irritating, but often undeserved when nothing worth applause has been said. Speeches are often aimed towards pleasing party members, who are perceived as being to the right/left of where the party usually lies. The Party Conference season takes nearly a month. This means that Parliament itself is in recess (on holiday) just after arriving back from the summer recess! The amount of time spent away from Parliament on holiday, not implementing legislation or having much needed debates is regrettable and leaves MPs with lots of time on their hands when their party conference isn't occurring. Surely it would be better for Parliament and democracy if the conferences were spread out over the year, so some MPs would still be in Parliament. This would also make conferences seem more important and less concentrated. We are often told that Conference is place for the members to be heard by voting on policy and issues affecting the party. But are these votes ever relayed to the public? From what I've seen and read, no. The location of the voting, when and how it takes place, why they are voting and, most importantly, what the actual vote is has never been given to the public. We cannot learn how the party will develop its decision making, the way it will be managed and how this will therefore affect the country. It would be better if party voting was broadcast and made available, so voters could scrutinize a party's direction and make a more informed judgement come election time. Party Conference seem to always take place, for whatever reason, in big, mainstream cities: Greens in Birmingham, UKIP in Bournemouth, Liberal Democrats in Brighton, Labour in Liverpool, Tories in Birmingham, SNP in Glasgow..the list goes on. Whilst I can see the reasons for always holding conferences in these urban, buzzing cities, the resulting factor is people in rural, leafy countryside being forgotten and often thinking the mainstream parties have left them behind. Though there is always an MP for those people, it can be as if parties only take notice at elections. Overall, Party Conferences can be perceived as pointless, a waste of time and money and not helping the country move forward. Most importantly, they are seen as only talking to those in the political class or party. I feel they are not open, accessible or wanted for ordinary people who aren't always following politics. Conferences must be willing to adapt and adjust to be seen as a space where views can be heard, people can raise ideas and the public can feel informed.
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