My experience as a Gibraltarian at Labour Party Conference

by Krish Daryanani

I knew for a while that the first thing I’d do when moving to the UK for university was join the Labour Party. I grew up in a family that inspired me to have a specific set of values, “if you want to get involved in politics it has to be for the right reasons, to help the people that need it most,” I was constantly reminded of this. That for me, is the key difference between Labour and Conservatives in British politics. We are in it for the people.

After a year of being involved with the Labour Party from its grassroots, campaigning and canvassing in by-elections, local elections, almost every single day of the general election, and attending local meetings, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend Annual Party Conference. Not just as a normal member, but as a democratically elected delegate by and to represent the members of my Constituency Labour Party (CLP), Liverpool Riverside.

This meant I was bound to attend many voting sessions over three days and vote on motions put forward by the party, a task that I believe made my conference experience a perfect balance of doing real meaningful work while also meeting influential policymakers and making great friends.

Being my first party conference, I did not know what to expect. I did not expect to have all sorts of groups and protests outside of the entrance forcefully handing out leaflets and pamphlets. On the first day I felt bad ignoring them and just accepted all of the leaflets. I did not expect to see Health Secretary Wes Streeting, and Britain’s youngest MP Sam Carling, casually walking about during my first ten minutes of being in the secure zone. I later realised that for conference, these things were just normal. I felt honoured to have met and briefly speak to our Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves. As a 19-year old, I must say I was in awe.

One thing I made sure to do when meeting essentially anyone is tell them that I’m a proud Gibraltarian and the reactions were always more than positive. I did not realise how unwavering the support for us was, from our young generation to older people, to MPs and ministers. Those who haven’t been here are interested in coming and those who have been love it, but let’s be honest who wouldn’t?

When I told Armed Forces minister Luke Pollard that I was from Gibraltar he said how nice it was to visit recently. When I met Nick Thomas-Symonds, who came last year as a guest at the Gibraltar Literary Festival and is now minister for European Relations, he remembered what a lovely time he had here. I even saw a friend of mine wearing a Gibraltar badge pinned to his shirt. Everyone loves us.

This conference was not just any conference, it was the first with a Labour government in 15 years and ‘Europe’s largest conference ever’ as many boasted, with over 21,000 people in attendance. What a time to be involved.

There were so many fringe events and receptions to choose from, so I tried to single out ones of my particular interest or experience. For example, as a champion pushing for a Britain to have a closer relationship with the EU, I went to events that look at how to best do this. An Ambassador for Rebuilding Ukraine at the European Youth Parliament, I made a point to go illustrate my support for Ukraine at relevant events. As a steering committee member running environmental action app ‘For Planet’, I attended functions on tackling climate change. This also gave me the opportunity to meet Energy and Net Zero Secretary, Ed Miliband.

Leaving the best for last, I could not miss our annual Gibraltar reception. Including speeches from our outstanding socialist Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and Minister for Europe Stephen Doughty, it certainly was a great event to celebrate our British history and catch up with friends from home. There are always many receptions taking place at the same time, which is why I was quite surprised to see fellow members and councillors from Liverpool at our government’s reception. It is considered by many to be the best throughout whole conference; at the same time, everyone present were keen supporters of Gibraltar.

Insightful. Exciting. Productive. An accurate description of this experience. Not only did I represent my constituency in contributing to real party policy, make great friends from young members to MPs, and learn more in areas of interest but I took the opportunity to raise Gibraltar telling everyone how proud we are to be British Gibraltarians. I even appeared on BBC Radio on three separate occasions – one of which they mistakenly double booked myself and the Justice Secretary in the same studio, not my least embarrassing and awkward moment.

What a time to have my first party conference. A line I’ve repeated too many times to count, because it definitely will not be my last.