The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) policy team was present at both the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences this year.  

Following a political hiatus owing to the Conservative leadership election and the passing of the Queen, recently appointed Prime Minister Liz Truss has faced growing criticism from across the political spectrum. Meanwhile, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s fiscal statement on 23 September was poorly received by both the financial markets, and even environmental conservation charities.  

While all of this has been happening, the Labour party and its leadership have been enjoying some of the strongest polling in decades.  

As well as making links with political and policymaking contacts, the team also attended a number of member meetings and events on key topics including levelling up, transportation and climate change. 

Guto Davies, head of policy at ACE, said: “In normal circumstances, party conferences at least 24 months out from a general election would be seen as only the start of discussions around future policy. However, given the challenging macro-economic outlook ahead, weak backing for the new Prime Minister in the House of Commons, and the unprecedented politics we have lived through in the last few years, it is not inconceivable that the two main parties will be firming up their policy platforms sooner rather than later.” 

“With this in mind, it was noticeable that the Labour party’s announcements were aimed at showcasing a ‘solid’ set of initial proposals for industry and business – the intention being of presenting a Government in waiting."

"Meanwhile, the Conservatives needed to reset the clock somewhat following the fiscal statement a few weeks ago. The Autumn Budget earmarked for the end of November will provide an opportunity to provide more clarity on the governments agenda, but the Conference gave the Cabinet the chance to hear directly from business.” 

To help ACE members digest the policy announcements and updates from the Labour conference in Liverpool and the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, the policy team has produced two exclusive member-only briefings exploring the policy announcements of interest to our sector.  

Simply login or register with your work email address to download them below