Lessons in vibes and policy: what we learned from the party conference season

"The vibes were great." "Everyone was so happy." "That was the speech of a generation."

So what?

That is the view of so many party conference-goers this year - from all parties. And yet I hate that reportage of the conferences. At the margins and in the tiniest way, it does kind of matter how people feel after a conference. But the most important thing is what it tells us about the kind of government we're going to have, not how the really rather unusual people who spend time at party conferences feel.

So what?… What did we really learn from the 2026 party conference season?

Firstly and most importantly, Andy Burnham's government is fundamentally a new administration with a new starting point, a new vocabulary, and a genuinely different view on what constitutes good policy. Second, the Conservative opposition may be languishing in the polls, but they have an increasingly confident economic agenda and is beginning to confront Reform as its threat to the right.

To operate effectively with government now, business must move beyond traditional lobbying. Here are seven core things that matter and a healthy reminder to have your view across the whole of the UK's political waterfront:

1. Setting the Terms of Trade: A Government Defined by Itself

Keir Starmer's government felt like it was constantly running away from a Nigel Farage-shaped shadow or Conservative-era economic norms. That era is over. The defining feature of Andy Burnham's first conference speech as Prime Minister was a government setting its own agenda - doubling down and defining what he means when he says a "break with the direction of the past 40 years". That meant eye-catching commitments to begin a national discussion on a much closer relationship with the EU, on a new social care system and on changes to the voting system. The EU commitment is obviously the most important for economic growth, but quite what that is and where it goes remains undefined.

The Lesson for Business: Do not expect this administration to be driven by fear of political pushback or defensive compromise. Traditional economic arguments won't necessarily cut it. If your public affairs strategy assumes a government reacting defensively to political noise, it is already outdated.

2. Pragmatic Ambition Beats Excessive Caution

That other part of the Starmer shadow was caution and inertia and a lack of 'politics' in its decision-making. The fiscal rules still matter with Burnham and Healey. But ministers BPI spoke to feel liberated to make things happen within the clear political framework that Burnham has set.

The message to business: good ideas and rapid delivery are welcome. But remember that this government's focus is much more sharply defined around "ordinary working people". Ideas that look like they are designed solely to protect a corporate bottom line will fall on deaf ears.

The Lesson for Business: Pitch solutions, not special pleading. Scalable ideas that directly improve our daily lives will get through the door.

3. "Public Control": Government as the Guiding Hand

The Prime Minister constantly talks about more "public control". That's not necessarily old-fashioned, wholesale nationalisation (though it might be in some cases). But it is a much more active role in the work of public utilities and markets. The state is acting as a guiding hand to make essential markets work. Whether through the introduction of Great British Grid within GB Energy or reforms to local transport and housing, the objective is to establish "more control of the basics" to enable functional growth that works for the public. Looking across the parties, all see a role for a more active state, so while Kemi Badenoch may want the "nanny state to get out of your way" even she is proposing a robust industrial strategy.

The Lesson for Business: Speaking the language of Burnham's government matters. "Public control" represents a regulatory and market-shaping framework. Businesses that understand how to operate alongside state steering - positioning private capital as a partner in delivering public interest outcomes - will have more constructive engagement with this government.

4. Place and Space: Power Leaves the Centre

Manchesterism and devolution are the buzzwords. But what is the theory of growth around them? The conference reinforced that regional growth is no longer an afterthought - it is the primary organising principle of UK economic strategy and No10 North is the delivery body. From expanding mayoral powers in energy planning to giving regional leaders direct influence over local housing and transport, "place matters".

The Lesson for Business: To secure licence to operate, unlock planning, or partner on infrastructure, corporates must build genuine, local strategies tailored to the individual strengths and leadership of specific regions and cities.

5. Good Corporate Citizenship is Non-Negotiable

Running through every ministerial contribution was an uncompromising focus on the citizen and the customer: working people, leaseholders, and consumers facing squeezed household budgets. The emphasis on "decency" and tackling perceived unfair practices means the spotlight on corporate behaviour will be relentless.

The Lesson for Business: The bar for corporate citizenship has been raised. Outliers or sectors seen as taking advantage of consumers will be called out directly by ministers. Do you really understand customer outcomes, fee structures, and service delivery? Are they really fair for the consumer? Put your hand on your heart and answer that question honestly before you meet with a government minister.

6. AI: From Regulation Deliberations to Deployment and Capacity

While technology discussions often get bogged down in theoretical regulatory debates, the signal from conference fringe events was strikingly different. AI Minister Kanishka Narayan challenged the industry, arguing that building UK sovereign capacity and driving adoption must take priority over writing new rules for their own sake. As Narayan noted during conference panels, the immediate public demand is safety and domestic capability - "building British capability beats new rules". And Andy Burnham has put AI at the centre of next year's G7 Summit in Manchester where he wants to establish a Global AI Code to secure the economic benefits and with appropriate guardrails for national security.

The Lesson for Business: The AI narrative has officially moved from speculative governance to operational deployment. Businesses that engage government on AI should focus on how they are building infrastructure, expanding domestic capacity, and driving real productivity in the real economy.

7. Buy political insurance now

Almost every party has come out of their conference feeling upbeat and optimistic. Nigel Farage's Reform Party has had a battering with financial scandals, but they are starting to feel like a proper party and are second or third in the polls. Kemi Badenoch's had a policy rich week with a simple message that could be paraphrased as, "Labour costs you more and wants to run your lives, Reform are racist and obsessed with one thing; but we, the Tories, are going to cost you less and let you get on with your life." The Tory agenda was the more interesting. In an era where there is no public consensus on which big choice to make to drive economic growth, they picked a lane: widespread deregulation, lower personal taxes but no change to our relationship with the EU. They say they will fund this with unspecified welfare cuts and efficiency savings - let's see how that works out. But it's a serious agenda that sets up a genuine fight with Labour on their own terms - like Andy Burnham, no longer singing to Nigel Farage's tune.

The Lesson for Business: In Britain's fragmented party system, many combinations of parties could end up forming the government after the next election. Spending time and effort building up relationships with opposition parties is now worth the effort, if done cautiously and with intent.