Editor’s note: This post is adapted from a longer conference report written by Chris Johnson. It has been lightly edited for clarity and blog format.
From Saturday 27 September to Wednesday 1 October 2025, I attended the Labour Party Annual Conference 2025 in Liverpool. This was my first time going to Conference.
I tried to make detailed notes on all the events that I went to, which I do have in my notebook for most events. In a few places I’m working from memory rather than full notes, but the overall themes were very clear.
As Youth Officer, I tried to attend events that interested me and were relevant to young people. This meant that I had a natural bias towards EU and housing events, both of which are covered in the posts that will follow. I also attended events on other issues, including politicians’ speeches and talks on the new media environment, and young people’s views on Reform.
I’ve tried to be as objective as I possibly can here. Owing to the subject matter, it is sometimes difficult to be objective, even if bias is unconscious. Sometimes I have added my own analysis of what I heard, and I have tried to make this clear.
The conference was wide-ranging, with a lot of the messaging focused on renewal, unity, and addressing the policy challenges facing the UK.
Across the fringe events I attended, two themes came up repeatedly: the housing crisis, and Britain’s evolving relationship with the European Union.
On housing, there was a strong sense of urgency around increasing affordable and social housing, tackling homelessness through a Housing First approach, and reforming the planning system. There was also a repeated point that housing problems link together, from supply and affordability through to preventing homelessness, including for groups at particular risk such as former prisoners, people escaping domestic abuse, people leaving the care system, and people who have been granted asylum.
On the EU, the tone was generally more optimistic than it has been for years. A lot of the discussion was about practical cooperation, including youth mobility, defence, and alignment on trade and standards. One area that came up a lot was the idea of closer alignment on economic standards, with Ukraine used as an example of how a country can be closely integrated in a strategic area without full membership.
Major speeches, including from Keir Starmer, also set a clear tone for the week, with a focus on unity and long-term renewal.
In the next posts, I’ll be writing up the events I attended on housing, planning and new towns, Europe, the new media environment, young people and Reform UK, and the main speeches.
