Member of the Kent Labour Student Society, Flynn Cowell, shares their experience as a delegate at the Labour Party Conference.
“I recently had the pleasure of attending the Labour Party conference in Liverpool representing Kent Labour Students and my home Constituency Party in Sussex. It was a brilliant experience to be at the forefront of the country’s political activity for the week, as well as see so many amazing friends from across the country, especially considering it was the first conference in Government, we got to see firsthand the brilliant agenda that the new Government has planned to transform our country.
This was my second time attending Conference but my first as a delegate, meaning I had the responsibility for voting on the various policy and constitutional motions that had been put on the floor for debate. This is an important part of the Party’s internal democracy and it was brilliant to be part of the moving machine that is so important for setting the party and country’s political agenda.
There is always vigorous, and a times emotive, debate on the conference floor, I even had one delegate mutter “shame” when I voted on one particular issue! As a delegate I also had the opportunity to speak on the conference floor, televised live on the BBC, having been urged by some friends to volunteer to speak on the issue of the Chancellor’s growth plan and how it can affect my local community in Sussex! It was a fairly short notice speech with only about five minutes to prepare but nonetheless, I was selected to speak and made my way to the podium.
As a delegate, you also get guaranteed seating in the hall for the main speeches, including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner who gave an incredible speech on local government, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves who gave a barnstorming speech on unlocking the country’s economic potential and finally Prime Minister Keir Starmer who had an amazing speech on the prospect of change that his Government can deliver.
In addition to the activity in the main hall, I also had the opportunity attend some brilliant fringe events on young people’s mental health, refugees and reducing economic inequality in the UK. These were so informative to hear from experts on these issues, who were clearly all so passionate about their subject areas.
Conference isn’t all work though, in the evening there were many receptions and parties, lasting to the early hours of the morning. The highlight being the Labour Students Disco, which was graciously sponsored by TikTok – who put several thousand pounds behind the bar! Overall, Conference was an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone who was thinking about going.”
Flynn Cowell, first-year member of the Kent Labour Students, is studying BA Politics and International Relations.