Ahead of this weekend’s Liberal Democrat Annual Conference in Bournemouth, Nathaneal Amos-Sansam speaks with Lord Mark Pack for Dods Political Intelligence. Lord Pack is the Party President for the Liberal Democrats and a former editor of the Liberal Democrat Voice blog. Here they discuss the party’s mood going into the conference, what PR Professionals should expect when attending, and the joys of giving out ‘Party Awards’.
Nathaneal Amos-Sansam: What number Liberal Democrat Party conference is this for you?
Lord Mark Pack: This will be my 68th Liberal Democrat Federal Conference, a number sufficiently large that I have not tried to include regional, Scottish or Welsh conferences in that figure…!
Nathaneal Amos-Sansam: Why should public affairs professionals and stakeholders attend the Liberal Democrat conference this year?
Lord Mark Pack: Not only do the Liberal Democrats have 72 MPs, we have even more – 76 – Liberal Democrat council leaders. Add to that also 76 Lib Dem peers, and in multiple ways the Lib Dems are a significant force in public policy making and implementation. Plus, the democratic nature of our policy making means that conference is a key opportunity to understand at first hand the debates, viewpoints and people who are shaping our future policies.
Nathaneal Amos-Sansam: How would you characterise the mood among Liberal Democrat activists going into this conference?
Lord Mark Pack: Optimistic! We followed our best general election result in a century with another big set of gains in the local elections this May. But also, week in week out in council by-elections, you see that while Labour and the Conservatives lose almost all their head-to-head contests with Reform, we win most of ours.
Add to that the continued boost in Ed Davey’s popularity since the general election, regularly giving him the best net approval scores of any main party leader, and there’s much to be optimistic about our political prospects – just as the state of the government, our country and indeed the wider world, show the importance of a growing and strong liberal and democratic voice in our politics.
Nathaneal Amos-Sansam: What makes a great conference speech?
Lord Mark Pack: Know your audience! My most popular speech ever – judged by the emails and WhatsApp’s afterwards – was just three sentences: because I knew people wanted me to get to my final sentence as quickly as possible. (This was the announcement of the Lib Dem leadership election contest. People didn’t want to hear from me. They wanted the result.)
Even when people want a longer speech, brevity is still good. You hear plenty of praise for speeches being concise or to the point. You never hear praise for speeches being wonderfully voluminous.
That’s all the more important during our policy debates as by the time people get to vote they will have sat through numerous speeches and will, at best, only remember part of what you said.
Hone down your key message. Then condense it. Then prune away bits. Then shorten it again.
Nathaneal Amos-Sansam: What makes a great fringe event?
Lord Mark Pack: A good chair. Chairing events like these is a much under-rated skill.
I also increasingly like the format where there are no opening comments from each panellist but instead the chair kicks off with questions to each in turn. You avoid the risk of a 5 minute introduction speech turning out to be a 10 minute snorefest.
Nathaneal Amos-Sansam: Which part of this year’s conference are you most looking forward to?
Lord Mark Pack: Giving out our Party Awards on the final day. As well as being a great chance to thank and celebrate wonderful colleagues, it’s also my last task of the Conference. So, my smile when handing over the last award is not only about the winner, it’s also a smile of relief that I’ve got through another conference!