Blog

CIOB’s Party Conference Plans

David Barnes

Policy & Public Affairs Manager

Last updated: 8th September 2023

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) will once again attend the political party conferences across September and October 2023 to meet with policy makers and other policy bodies to discuss the priorities for the UK’s built environment.

This year’s conferences are set to be particularly interesting given discussions have seemingly already taken place about the timing of the next UK General Election which must be held no later than 28 January 2025. Some political parties are likely pushing harder for a General Election than others, with YouGov’s latest Westminster voting intention poll indicating the Conservatives are on 24% of the vote to Labour’s 44%. Elsewhere the Liberal Democrats have 9% of the vote, the Greens 8% and Reform UK have 9%.[1]

Interestingly, as of August 2023, some 71 MPs have announced that they will not stand again at the next general election.[2] These numbers are significant, and others will likely follow suit in the run up to any announcement. CIOB intend to continue to promote the importance of the built environment with existing policy makers and potential future candidates. In particular, we will be focusing on the priorities aligned with our Corporate Plan 2023-28, primarily on quality and safety, sustainability and people and skills.

In terms of activity, the policy and public affairs team will be attending (and at some – holding events), the following party conferences:

  • Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth on 23-26 September
  • Conservative Conference in Manchester on 1-4 October
  • Plaid Cymru Conference in Aberystwyth on 6-7 October
  • Labour Conference in Liverpool on 8-11 October

At Conservative, Labour and Plaid Cymru Conference we will be hosting ‘fringe’ events (events that fall outside the main programme). We will also partner up with other trade and professional bodies such as the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). The reason for doing so is to showcase alignment on key issues affecting the built environment and showcase the willingness to speak with ‘one voice’, something which, historically, policy makers have been critical of.

On Monday 2 October, 18:00 - 19:00 we will hold an event at Conservative Conference entitled Will the housing crisis determine the next election?

This event will be held in the secure zone in the ConservativeHome marquee in the MCCC and you will need a Conservative conference pass to attend. However, if you would like to tune in online, you can be notified on YouTube here. We will be joined by Rachel Maclean MP, the Housing & Planning Minister as well as Sandi Rhys Jones, President of CIOB. 

We will shortly update with links to our events taking place at Labour.

If you would like further information, or to arrange a meeting with the policy and public affairs team at any of the conferences, then please email [email protected].  

 

[1] YouGov, Latest YouGov Westminster voting intention figures, 30 August 2023

[2] Institute for Government, How many MPs are standing down at the next election?, 10 August 2023