According to THIS article, the Conservatives will be returning to Blackpool for the Party Conference next year. This is very disappointing. Surely we can find somewhere else? I know there are few places that can take such a large conference and it may be that there simply is, to coin a phrase, no alternative, but I do hope every other avenue has been exhausted. Manchester would be my preference.
How depressing.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember at the time, you and a number of other people said how good Manchester was for the Spring Conference (I didn't go you see.)
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have been told the complete opposite by others.
At least you know what Blackpool is going to be like.
I was told it was Bournemouth...!
ReplyDeleteGavin, it's Bournemouth this year.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with Blackpool...
ReplyDeleteIt's emblematic of the sad anorak-ish sorts who insist of their 'right' to spend a week in a crumbling seaside resort, as if holding it somewhere with a decent rail link is pissing on the legacy of our forefathers (this applies to people of all parties).
ReplyDeleteThey have working class people there, don't they?
ReplyDeleteJust wait until they have the Super-Casino! Fun for all the family...
ReplyDeleteI vote for Skegness!
ReplyDeleteThe Winter Gardens is a disgrace and unfit to hold a conference of any size. No wonder Blackpool is in decline when the best the can offer as a Conference facility is ballroom
ReplyDeleteThere is a great conference centre in Cardiff that's much larger than Blackpool.
ReplyDeleteThe B&Bs are pretty dire in Blackpool, but the Imperial Hotel has great character and has far more space than, say, the Highcliff in Bournemouth which is too cramped and has those nasty tent marquees for receptions.
ReplyDeleteOK, the Winter Gardens and the Imperial are miles away, but you get free tram travel!
Maybe the Party could go back to Brighton!
Let's be like the medical conferences and go abroad to somewhere nice warm!
ReplyDeleteWell, Blackpoool may well be shit. But there are loads of hotels there - most ,to be fair, rather grim - but it will work out much cheaper than boring Bournemouth! You get what you pay for.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if it were to go to Manchester, Cardiff etc wouldn't that deter more people from going due to the higher costs?
Also, and this is a genuine question, would there be enough hotel facilties near the conference centres?
Anonymous, you're right about Cardiff, wrong about Manchester, which has plenty of hotel beds.
ReplyDeleteLook, to the trots and the media the Tories are forever going to be the selfish rich party no matter how much Dave tries to change our image, so I say: "Sod the opinion polls" and hold the conference somewhere appropriate for the party of proud rich bastards.
ReplyDeleteI vote for Monaco. Good hotels, good weather, plenty of entertainment, lots of mediterranean beach tottie and its too bloody expensive for the proles and newshacks to come and spoil the party.
RM
Okay, I think I've had too much Bushmills to be allowed to carry on commenting tonight. See you all much later tommorrow morning
Warwick (used for Labour's policy forum) might become a viable alternative once the rail-road link is built from Coventry to the University campus. But would Tories want to sleep in halls of residence?
ReplyDeleteBlackpool- knock it a bit, but not too much- some of us still have to live here ;)
ReplyDeleteSome of you may be interested to know that our Labour-run council gives the owner of the Winter Gardens, Leisure Parcs, £1m each year for them to run it as a conference venue (wasn't it anyway?), which leaves some of us with the question of "who's bending over for who?". As some of you will confirm, it's not the most suitable venue for conferences, in its current state of neglect.
Why not Cannes or Nice?
ReplyDeleteIt is cheaper to fly to Nice on EasyJet from London than it is to get the train to Blackpool.
The food is beeter as is the weather...
To ordinary party members like myself, the whole concept of annual party conferences seem incredibly outdated, especially over recent years as they have become boring, over-managed set pieces - yawn.
ReplyDeleteHow about Llundudno?
ReplyDeleteMartin, it's Blackpool this year. However, I have been told the complete opposite by others. crumbling seaside resort, as if holding it somewhere with a decent rail link is pissing on the legacy of our forefathers...
ReplyDeletePosted By: Blackpool Hotels / Accommodation Guide in Blackpool