Comment: What we learned from the party political conferences

As the political party conference season draws to a close, and with Abta attending those held by the three main parliamentary parties, it’s a good time to share some observations on what we’ve learnt relevant to UK travel.

At this point, the conferences were a good opportunity to engage with new and returning MPs, have conversations with ministers whose decisions affect our sector, gauge the mood of the parties and get a feel for emerging policy debates.

Labour

The Labour Party Conference saw speeches delivered by the prime minister and chancellor, which focused not only on the difficult decisions ahead in the Budget, but also on the prize of brighter times ahead. From a travel perspective, there were three key policy themes that dominated.

Sustainability was the first. The new government has already adopted a mandate for sustainable aviation fuels and confirmed a Bill on a revenue support mechanism to encourage investment in the development of a domestic fuel industry. Across two fringe events, by Jet2 and Sustainable Aviation, the clear message from industry was one of encouragement at the start the government’s made, but also caution that more needs to be done to ensure the UK aviation industry remains competitive.

Abta research shows little voter support for pricing people out of holidays, and we know travel is hugely important to communities across the country – worth £49 billion annually and supporting 843,000 jobs. Abta drove these points home at every opportunity, as well as in our recent Budget submission.

The second issue concerns how improvements to the UK-EU relationship could boost the performance of UK travel companies – in particular, focusing on a deal on youth mobility and removing barriers to school travel.

This was raised in our conversations with the cabinet minister responsible for UK-EU relations, as well as the ministers for tourism and legal migration.

As we build toward the Trade and Cooperation Agreement review in 2026, these topics will remain high on the agenda.

Thirdly, it’s notable that Labour is focused on promoting the role and importance of local mayors. Devolution is something we’ll need to watch carefully over the next five years (and beyond). It could have ramifications for planning and tax policies, including local tourism taxes and potentially business rates.

If more power is to be devolved away from Westminster, that will present a challenge for the sector, not least in terms of engaging across an increasingly diffused political landscape.

Liberal Democrats

For the Lib-Dems, the sense in Brighton was of a party glad to ‘be back’.

With its MPs largely operating from the left of the government, but with seats obtained mostly from targeting the Conservatives, there will be tensions about the direction of their future strategy – but those will wait for another day.

For travel, the scepticism many Lib-Dem MPs espouse for aviation, especially around expansion, has already come to the fore. On the plus side, the conference adopted a motion in support of UK-EU youth mobility and the party will be vocal on that issue.

Conservatives

Meanwhile, for the Conservatives, with a leadership election underway, there were unsurprisingly no policies or clearly defined attacks on the government. However, on the fringe, debates raged about whether the party – reduced to 121 MPs – should turn rightward to face the threat of Reform, or tack to the centre.

As parliamentarians return to Westminster, attention turns to the Budget on October 30.

The chancellor gave little away, but her decisions will tell us more about where the government’s priorities lie. Meanwhile, for Abta’s public affairs team, an extremely busy period lies ahead. With so many newly elected MPs, our engagement programme will ratchet up even more between now and Christmas.

We’re energised for the task ahead as we continue to champion the value of UK travel.