Behind the scenes at the Labour Party conference

Val* may have been stewarding Labour Party conferences for around 15 years, but she still gets a buzz from working at the VIP door in the main conference centre.

“You see everyone up close – all the politicians of course. And Hugh Grant this year,” she says. “I saw Adam Boulton eating a banana.”

Visitors to a party conference, whether press, politico or party member, will be asked to show their conference pass countless times a day. And stewards policing conference venue doors asking for passes are mostly Labour members, volunteering their time for the party.

Ed Balls comes to Val’s VIP door, ready to take to the stage. The shadow chancellor is duly asked for his pass and they have a bit of laugh about how he’s always running late. “We see him all the time, but we treat them all the same,” Val tells Channel 4 News.

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Labour stewards family

Party conference stewards are the few people still working at midnight, directing the schmoozing classes from bar to taxi and beyond. Depending on the venue, stewards can start work at 7am and finish in the early hours of the morning. Most work eight-hour shifts during conference, and then go to fringe meetings in their spare time. And yet many stewards volunteer to work at the party conference year after year.

“I think we do it, because we’re proud of what we’re doing,” says Tony, who hails from Greater Manchester and has been stewarding for “around 14 years”. “We speak to the majority of people coming in. They feel safer when they see a steward.”

His colleague, Jon, agrees, and says the Labour stewards are like a family. “We meet once a year and it’s all ‘how are you doing?’ We have a laugh and a giggle together,” he says.

‘Snooty’ delegates

But it’s not all fun and games. Those working outside have to put up with the wind and the rain for hours on end, while other shifts involve sitting in the dark behind the stage of the main hall.

And then there are the delegates. Tony has been working shifts at Manchester’s famous Midlands Hotel where the great and the good frequent the bar. “Most people are very amiable and helpful,” he says. “But you get the odd people looking down their noses at you, though.”

At the VIP entrance, the media are the worst culprits, says Val. “Most people are lovely, and very polite, but the media can be a bit snooty. Some television people – they say; ‘Don’t you know who I am’,” she adds – politely not naming any names.

‘Subdued’ conference

This year’s conference was notable for its lack of excitement. Despite Labour starting conference 10 points ahead in the polls, conference was awash with warnings of a “difficult road ahead”.

It is also halfway time in the race to the election, and the opposition party is more likely to suffer from lack of interest. If evidence was needed for the lack of suitors wanting to set up shop in the conference centre, a jewellery stall had taken one of conference hall stands in the final days of conference.

Long-time stewards who spoke to Channel 4 News remember the good old days. The 1996 conference before the 1997 election was a particular highlight, as well the years when Nelson Mandela and when Bill Clinton made a guest appearance.

“It will continue to be subdued while we’re not in government,” says Val. “We’re talking about things and we’re not able to do anything about it. When we’re in government people are demanding to come, but this year feels a much more scaled down conference.”

But she’ll be back next year, no matter what: “For me, it’s a way of getting to meet like-minded people. It’s a way of giving something back to the party.”

*All names have been changed. Steward pictured is Catherine Cookson and was not interviewed for this article.