Long time Lib Dem activist David Grace looks at the fringe meetings at this year's conference
Fringe meetings are one of the great features of party conferences. They usually last an hour with two or three speakers followed by 20 to 30 minutes of audience participation.
Chairs usually ask for questions but Liberals never confine themselves to that because they want to make trenchant comments.
Years ago I pointed this out to a Conservative who was chairing a fringe meeting on defence. He told me he couldn’t allow comments at a Tory Conference because they were all nutters.
One of the benefits of these meetings is the chance to hear invited speakers from outside the party. So far this time I have heard a leading American Democrat who is part of Kamala Harris’ team and the deputy leader of Servants of the People, Zelenkskyy’s Ukrainian party which is a member of the European Liberal family.
This year another benefit is the chance to meet all these unknown people who are now MPs. A lot of them will have been so busy campaigning in constituencies that conference comes a poor second-best. One new MP had never been to conference before.
Running these fringes is an expensive business. The party rents rooms from the conference hotel, so the hotel takes a cut. Then the party takes a cut. You can end up paying at least £1,000 for a meeting lasting an hour. I offer to chair one on housing policy now.
Image credit – Liberal Democrats – Creative Commons
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