Unusually, four parties will be celebrating significant parliamentary success during this party conference season. With the Greens quadrupling their MP tally, the Lib Dems firmly the third biggest party and Reform, the not so new kids on the block gaining five seats, politics is changing. All parties will rightly turn their attention from thinking about winning power, to what to do with the power they have obtained. It’s our job to continue to make the case for a system in which political representation and agency reflect public support. 

MVM staffers and volunteers will be attending all major conferences this year to meet MPs, donors and allies – and get some ideas for the 2025 conference season which coincides with our 10th anniversary – here are some of the things on our agenda.

Last week (6 September 2024), I took a quick trip to magnificent Manchester to speak at my first fringe for MVM at the Green Party Conference. Co-organised with Unlock Democracy and chaired by Compass, Ellie Chowns MP outlined her thoughts on why it’s if, not when, we get PR. It was a pleasure to be amongst so many energetic, enthusiastic and like minded supporters of democracy. We finished with a really engaging audience Q&A, with important questions about the route to reform,  including how we persuade this Labour Government to adopt PR. For those of you who are interested, my speech is here.

14th September sees the Liberal Democrats in beautiful Brighton, I’ll be heading to the Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform fringe that evening in The Grand Hotel. I’m expecting a rallying call for 2024 to be the last election under First Past the Post. The rest of the time I will be meeting various allies and long-term MVM supporters. Do come say hello if you see me!

On the 19th Reform is holding its conference in bostin* Birmingham. We’re sure that PR will be discussed as Reform voters along with Green Party voters being worst affected by our broken voting system, but mostly we’re sure that it will be a landmark conference outlining their plans for the future.

*bostin is a colloquial term for excellent

This year, the biggest conference is bound to be that of Labour who are once more making lovely Liverpool their home for the week. Our colleagues at Labour for a New Democracy have an event on 22 September with Andy Burnham where they’ll make a pitch to Labour on why, in the wake of plummeting turnout at the election, PR must be at the heart of Labour’s programme to restore trust in politics. If you’re at Labour, pop along.

The Conservative Party Conference is all about the leadership contest, so their trip to Birmingham will be different in tone and substance. We’re not quite sure what to expect, but as with other conferences, we’ll be there to make the case for PR. Our colleagues at the Conservative Action for Electoral Reform will be hosting a fringe on the 1st October with pollster Joe Twyman and writer John Oxly exploring what happens next to the conservative voter coalitions under FPTP.

Keep an eye out for our post-conference season round-up and for a preview of our plans to continue to build the movement for a politics in which all votes are equal and all voices are heard.