September 25, 2006
Blair’s end-of-the-pier show
I am in Manchester for Tony Blair’s last party conference as leader of the Labour Party. And praise the Lord to be able to say Manchester - rather than Blackpool, Brighton or Bournemouth. If Blair has done nothing more than break the iron grip that grotty British seaside resorts have over the party conference season, he will have performed a singular service to the nation. Why should it be that British political parties are always condemned to meet in small, seaside towns, while their American counterparts generally hold their conventions in big cities? I once put this question to Helen Liddell, a rather fierce Scottish Labour politician, while interviewing her at a Labour conference in Blackpool - which is the least glamorous location of the lot. She replied that “working people” liked to take their holidays in such places, which meant that there was an abundance of cheap hotels for party delegates to stay in. Fearful of appearing like a metropolitan snob, I dropped the subject. So I feel rather vindicated that for the last conference of the Blair era, Labour has managed to ditch the Blackpool habit - and has come to a proper city instead. Manchester, in fact, is a pretty good advert for the Blair era. Like many of Britain’s northern cities, it took a battering during the Thatcher period - as traditional industries closed down and unemployment rose. When I visited the city in 1997 just after Blair took power, I was astonished by how much of central Manchester was taken up derelict cotton mills and industrial buildings, dating back to the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century. Over the past 10 years, however, an urban revival has gathered pace in the centre of the city. Old mills have been converted into fancy loft apartments; news bars, restaurants and shops have opened up. There is a convention centre and there are smart new hotels. Of course, you can still find plenty of dereliction in Manchester, if you go looking for it. But the place is much less depressing than it was nine years ago. I’m prepared to bet that Blair will make a point of this, when he gives his last conference speech as party leader tomorrow. As it happens, Blair is exactly ten years older than me. This has occasionally led me to wonder idly whether I might be his natural successor. For whatever reason, however, it doesn’t seem to be working out. But I won’t let that ruin my enjoyment of the conference.
