Stewart Harper: Why if you are on the frontline of campaigning – Harrogate this year, matters

Stewart Harper is President of the National Conservative Convention, a member of the Board of the Conservative Party, and chaired the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester in October 2025.

Chairing last year’s Party Conference in Manchester was a personal honour, with many highlights not least of which was the closing speech from our Party Leader.  Every person I have spoken to since then talked about that speech being a turning point.

Across the four days we demonstrated something very important: that when our members come together, we renew not just our message, but our confidence. Our ideas were sharpened, our energy was restored, and the Party reconnected the people who make it work day in, day out.

Since our time in Manchester, Kemi Badenoch and the Shadow Cabinet have continued to work together – to hold the government to account and demonstrate that it is only the Conservative Party who are developing credible and deliverable plans to get Britain working again.

We are continuing that in Harrogate.

But the truth is, we can’t succeed unless the strengths demonstrated in Manchester percolate throughout the Party.  Put it simply, as I said in my opening speech at Conference – Kemi, and the Shadow Cabinet, cannot do it alone. The momentum we have built together must not be kept in a box until the Party Conference comes around again. So this March, Spring Conference returns – this year at the Harrogate Convention Centre – and every Party Member should join us.

Here’s why: Spring Conference brings together activists, councillors, candidates and volunteers from across the country for a weekend focused on ideas, skills and connection.  Not sitting still, determining what we might do in three years’ time, but actively developing ourselves and our movement in that renewal – the fruits of which are already visible.

Delivered in partnership with the Campaign Academy and the Conservative Councillors’ Association, the programme is designed to be practical and engaging. And unapologetically optimistic about the Party’s future. And it’s an opportunity to socialise together too – including with a members’ dinner on Saturday night – meeting up with friends and colleagues from across the country.

 So, will you join us in Harrogate?

 Our Spring Conference offers members a valuable opportunity to hear directly from senior figures within the Party, including the most senior members of the Shadow Cabinet, and to gain first-hand insight into a growing and evolving renewal programme. It is a chance for every Party Member to engage – not through headlines or soundbites, but through thoughtful discussion and shared experience.

 Alongside the political content, Spring Conference is firmly focused on delivery.

Development sessions that are designed to “level up” your local campaigns, equipping you with practical skills that you can take back. From campaigning and organisation, to leadership and development, the emphasis is on empowering ourselves to win in May – and to win well.

From crafting your message, establishing an electoral strategy, harnessing the opportunities to use AI in campaigns, having persuasive conversations with voters (or communicating persuasive messages in writing), and ensuring that our supporters get to the polling station (or return their postal vote) in time for the hard work to count.

We’ve brought together a strong range of speakers – both from our own professional team and volunteers, and also from the Leadership Institute.  Based in the US, but working around the world, the Leadership Institute is renowned for equipping grassroots activists and emerging leaders with practical, hands-on skills in campaigning, communications and organisation-building, bringing proven, high-energy training methods to our conference.  We’ve been working in partnership with them for some time, including in developing our own Campaign Leadership Programme which was reviewed in a recent article on this site.  By learning from the best in the world, we can continue the renewal our Party needs.

Of course, there will be some who say that they can’t afford to take time away from their campaigning – and I sympathise.  But equally, we have to recognise that investment of time in development is as important as (or perhaps more important) than continuing the approaches already tried and tested.

For those who have elections in 2027 and 2028, in particular, it is essential that we put the work in now.  For as former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who joined us in Manchester, is fond of saying: “You can’t fatten the pig on market day.”

But no Party Conference is all work – one of its great strengths is its atmosphere.  We saw that in Manchester, and I am sure the same will be true in Harrogate. Yes, having lived in Yorkshire for more than 20 years I know I’m biased – but Harrogate is worth visiting in itself. Harrogate offers the perfect blend of elegant spa-town charm, Yorkshire hospitality and some pretty decent venues, making it an inspiring and welcoming place to come together.

With a full programme of social events, the weekend offers opportunities to relax, network and reconnect with members from across the country. It’s where campaign tips are swapped over coffee, friendships are formed over dinner, and the shared sense of purpose that binds the Party together is most visible.

Spring Conference is about enjoying being part of the Conservative and Unionist Party, and remembering why that matters for our country.

We have a great programme of social events planned, and I know that when people leave Harrogate they will do so with a renewed determination to do all we can in the service of our aims.

Places at Spring Conference are limited, with some events already sold out. If Manchester showed what our members can achieve together, Harrogate offers the chance to build on that success – sooner rather than later – and to ensure that it is not just on the national stage we show our best side, but in every election battle in the coming years.

Spring Conference 2026 is not just another date in the diary – for someone else and not for you. It’s an opportunity for Party Members to learn, connect, and to be ready to shape what comes next.

Join us from 6 to 8 March – tickets are available from www.conservatives.com/spring-conference/