Party conference season

In the United Kingdom the party conference season refers to the period of three weeks in September and October of each year which contains the annual political party conferences. They have in the past taken place in seaside resorts such as Blackpool, Brighton and Bournemouth, largely because there was plenty of cheap accommodation available in such towns at the end of the summer holiday season, but increasingly they have also taken place in major cities such as Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham.

The conferences take place before the end of the summer recess and mark the commencement of the new political year. There is an unofficial agreement between the parties that they will stagger the timing of their conferences so that media attention is undivided.

In 2010 these are as follows:

• UKIP - 2 to 4 September, in Torquay
• Plaid Cymru - 9 to 11 September, in Aberystwyth
• Green Party of England and Wales - 10 to 13 September, in Birmingham
• Trades Union Congress - 13 to 16 September, in Manchester
• Liberal Democrats - 18 to 22 September, in Liverpool
• Labour- 26 to 30 September, in Manchester
• Conservatives - 4 to 7 October, in Birmingham
• Scottish National Party - 14 to 17 October, in Perth