Lib Dem Conference – starting early, finishing later
I know a number of Lib Dems (myself included) who were thrown by the Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference starting a day earlier for the last two years on the Saturday and finishing on the Wednesday. In the past, whilst many of us always arrived at conference on a Saturday, the majority of the conference began on Sunday. That is now not the case, and so given the distances some people travel it means that you need to arrive on the Friday if you want to go to the training and conference sessions on the Saturday. That’s why ALDC is promoting “come a day early” for it’s campaign planning workshops starting on Saturday morning, as many people still don’t realise the earlier start time (and just get in a quick plug there for my employers).
But what many people may not have realised is that this year, the conference now finishes late on the Wednesday rather than at lunchtime. As usual the leader’s speech is the last thing, but it isn’t over until about 4pm. Something to bear in mind if you are booking advance train tickets. Although there are always some people who like to leave before the leader’s speech to beat the rush at the railway station , I bet there will be plenty more this year. With the new finishing time, I won’t get home until about 10pm. Which does make me wonder if the conference hall will look as full as it should do, which will undoubtedly be picked up and then spun by the media.
