The third Labour Party Annual Conference held at ACC Liverpool brought a record number of delegates to the city.
A total of 13,000 delegates, including over 1,500 UK press and international media, the conference’s highest number of attendees to date, attended the five day event.
The Party conference opened on Saturday with the Women’s Conference followed by a further four days of plenary sessions, more than 400 fringe events, with key note speeches and networking opportunities. Exhibition Centre Liverpool, part of the ACC Liverpool campus, was transformed into a 3,700 seat auditorium for plenary sessions in addition to a 165-stand exhibition.
Fringe meetings took place in the convention centre, also part of ACC Liverpool, as well as at venues across the city. The venue’s interconnected hotel, Pullman Liverpool, operated as the headquarters hotel for the conference. The event drew to a close with Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, delivering his speech to a packed conference hall.
Bob Prattey, chief executive of The ACC Liverpool Group, said: “The Labour Party Conference presents many operational and security challenges. As a result, our entire campus can be flexed to allow for the size and high profile nature of the event.
“It is a significant operation for all organisations involved and we are grateful to everyone for once again helping us to deliver a successful conference.
“We were pleased to welcome Labour party back for a third time, following meetings in 2011 and 2016, for what was the venue’s biggest conference to date since opening in 2008.”
ACC Liverpool worked closely with Merseyside Police and Liverpool City Council to co-ordinate the preparation of the event.
Mayor Joe Anderson said: “The Labour Party Conference is one of the largest political events on the conference calendar and it was an honour to welcome delegates back to Liverpool for a third time.
“This event enabled us to showcase everything the city has to offer to the rest of the world and we are confident delegates will have once again appreciated all that we have to offer. The entire city was busy and bustling with thousands more visitors filling hotel rooms and other city venues for fringe events.”
Jennie Formby, General Secretary of the Labour Party, said: “We would like to thank ACC Liverpool and the city of Liverpool for hosting this year’s Labour Party conference. It was an incredible conference which surpassed our expectations.
“The size and diversity of our annual conference this year reflected the vibrancy of our growing membership of more than half a million people. We are proud that Liverpool is a Labour city, thanks to all who made it a great week, especially the ACC Liverpool staff who are incredibly professional and friendly.”
ACC Liverpool has hosted a selection of large conferences and events this year including UNI Global Union Congress and the International Business Festival, forthcoming highlights include Health Systems Global next month.
