Party Conference Season 2026

NGA reflects on this year’s party conferences, the education priorities emerging from across the political spectrum, and how we are using our political engagement to champion the voice of governors, trustees and governance professionals.

Blog

08/10/2026

Over the last three weeks, Westminster Parliament went on recess, allowing politicians to gather at their annual party conferences. Brighton, Liverpool and NGA’s home city of Birmingham all hosted conferences for the five major UK-wide parties. We were delighted to attend the conferences of the three parties most likely to lead the next government and took the opportunity to promote our midterm manifesto and governance more broadly.

The governing party's conference is, of course, the most significant to our policy priorities in the here and now. At Labour’s conference in Liverpool, it was one of the first opportunities for the new education secretary Lucy Powell to set out her vision.

NGA’s Chief Executive Emma Balchin also took part in a public panel hosted by the Education Policy Institute and National Association of Head Teachers on the government’s plans for a trust-led school system. Emma brought the views and experiences of NGA’s members and the wider governance sector directly into the discussion, alongside senior voices from across education, helping to ensure the role of effective local governance was part of the conversation about the future of the school system.

Powell's speech made no surprise announcements, with themes including the government’s ongoing SEND reforms, curriculum review and a focus on enrichment. The new prime minister’s pledge to provide vocational pathways for 14-year-olds from 2028, alongside new vocational GCSEs from 2029, was also reiterated. For now, the impression is more continuity with the direction set by Bridget Phillipson MP than change, in what Lucy Powell MP describes as her “Department of Hope”.

The official opposition remains the Conservative Party. Their shadow education secretary, Laura Trott MP, focused on kicking out “political activism from the classroom”, with headlines including new Ofsted powers to penalise schools for promoting “radical agendas” and enhanced parental rights to view the material their children are being taught. There were also suggestions for a new law targeting education trade unions to stop them from bringing “politics into schools”, and to focus the curriculum on core subjects.

NGA Deputy Chief Executive Sam Henson also joined a high-profile roundtable hosted by the Education Policy Institute and National Education Union on the future of AI in education. Sam was joined by senior figures from the Oxford Internet Institute, Chartered College of Teaching, Open Data Institute, Oxford University Press, Good Things Foundation and Chiltern Learning Trust, alongside Shadow Minister for Artificial Intelligence Dr Ben Spencer MP.

"For now, the impression is more continuity with the direction set by Bridget Phillipson MP than change, in what Lucy Powell MP describes as her “Department of Hope”.

Reform UK are the other party which polls suggest could provide the next prime minister. While their schools policy remains a work in progress, education spokesperson Suella Braverman did make some eye-catching announcements. She pledged a new requirement for all schools to sing the national anthem regularly, reannounced a proposal to require all schools to fly the Union Flag, and called for a new curriculum that emphasised the good done by the British Empire. She also weighed in on the government’s SEND reform, arguing their focus on mainstream inclusion risked a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

At the Liberal Democrat conference, education spokesperson Munira Wilson focused predominantly on 16+ education in the context of the NEET crisis. She did, however, critique the government’s recent announcements on vocational skills from age 14, arguing it was too early to ask young people to make career-defining decisions. She worried that in practice, it could lead to children from less advantaged backgrounds being “funnelled down” a vocational pathway. The Lib Dem alternative is a new post-16 baccalaureate which includes a variety of academic, creative and vocational pathways, alongside work experience and “professional enrichment.”

The fifth major party, the Greens, take a different approach to conferences, emphasising member-led debate and motions. Their policy agenda continues to oppose Ofsted, high-stakes testing, and the academy trust model.

At NGA, we are proud to be politically independent. We engage with all parties in good faith, in line with our policy positions. These positions are rooted in member-voice and robust evidence, and were most recently summarised in our midterm manifesto. NGA has historically published manifestos to align with general elections, but this year we wanted to update our manifesto to reflect that the government has made progress on some of our long-term priorities, from free school meals to ending one-word Ofsted judgements, while new challenges are increasingly emerging, including falling pupil rolls. Our policy and advocacy team continues to work with the incumbent government to deliver our priorities, with governance at its heart.

At the same time, we continue to engage with opposition parties to ensure our priorities, especially governance, are at the heart of their proposals. In the coming weeks, look out for this year’s annual governance survey, an invaluable snapshot of the wider governance community's views.

To govern for every child: a mid-term manifesto for schools and trusts

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Michael Barton

Head of Policy and Impact

Michael spearheads NGA's policy work, through which we represent our members; champion governance; and advocate for change in line with our policy positions. This includes engagement with external partners such as government, parliamentarians, trade unions and other colleagues.

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