What exactly is on the agenda for next weekend's spring conference?
Update: Scroll down for the now published agenda!
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This time next week the Conservative spring conference in Brighton will be over. Yet as of today, party members heading for the south coast for the weekend still have no idea as to what is on the agenda - apart from the keynote address by David Cameron on the Sunday afternoon.
All we know is the timings of the sessions, as reproduced on the right (click to enlarge). There is no reference to the topics under discussion or which shadow cabinet members are making speeches.
When I first queried this with the powers-that-be at CCHQ last week I was told that the agenda was due to be published on Thursday afternoon, but nothing has materialised.
Obviously I accept that when the conference was being put together we were unsure as to whether a general election campaign might already be under way, so there was always going to be a need for some flexibility; but it would be good to know what's on the agenda with only days to go before the event.
In the mean time, there are of course some fringe events that you can put in your conference diary:
- On Saturday at 12.30pm in the Library at the Hilton Metropole, Tim Montgomerie will be chairing a meeting at which James Bethell of Nothing British will speak about "Challenging the modern BNP". Click here for more details.
- And on Saturday evening between 10pm and midnight, ConservativeHome is hosting an Election Countdown Party, supported by the European Azerbaijan Society, at which Ken Clarke is guest of honour and there will be live jazz and flowing wine. Click here for venue details and how to RSVP.
2pm update: Half an hour after posting the above, I was emailed the conference agenda. Here it is:
Saturday 27th February
10am-12.30pm
National Convention meeting
2pm
Opening of Conference by Eric Pickles
2.05pm
Speech by William Hague
2.20pm-3.30pm
Session on the NHS, including a contributions from Andrew Lansley and the Health team
3.45pm-4.15pm
Session on "The Green Economy", including contributions from Nick Herbert, Theresa Villiers and Greg Clark
4.15pm-5pm
Session on "A New Economic Model", including contributions from George Osborne, Ken Clarke and Philip Hammond
9.30am-11am
Session on "A New Politics", including contributions from Eric Pickles, Caroline Spelman and Sir George Young.
11.15am-12.30pm
Session on "Mending our Broken Society" including contributions from Chris Grayling, Michael Gove, Theresa May, Baroness Warsi, Dominic Grieve, Maria Miller and David Willetts.
2pm
Speech by David Cameron
Jonathan Isaby
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