What do the 2026 party conferences mean for infrastructure?

Every autumn, British political parties hold their high-profile party conferences to discuss, debate, and vote on the policies that affect our daily lives.

The ICE covers the conferences and election manifestos of each of the largest Westminster parties who stand for election in 80% or more of the seats across the UK.

Here are the main takeaways for infrastructure from this year’s conferences:

Reform promises planning overhaul and an end to net zero

Conference season began in Birmingham with Reform UK’s efforts to bounce back from recent controversy and convince the country it’s ready to govern.

Leader Nigel Farage used his speech to outline how he would declare a national emergency on day one of a Reform government and force parliament to deliver change.

This included an attack on green levies, which business spokesman Richard Tice blamed for high energy bills. Tice outlined a package of measures, including scrapping net zero policies and carbon taxes on gas generators, to reduce bills by £250 a year.

Net zero programmes, alongside welfare, overseas aid, and the civil service, were also the target of wider proposed public spending cuts, totalling £80bn a year within five years.

Planning reform was another focus of the conference. Tice used his opening day speech to announce the party’s Planning Teal Paper, which proposes cutting a wide range of planning and development regulations to boost construction, particularly on brownfield land.

Away from the main stage, discussion topics included Britain’s infrastructure and economic challenges, strengthening government delivery, and English devolution.

Reform supports more local decision-making but opposes the large unitary and strategic authorities proposed by Labour. While fringe speakers disagreed on precisely what local government reorganisation should look like, many expressed concern about the pace and scale of current reforms.

The Liberal Democrats want to get Britain growing again

The Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton saw the party reposition itself on growth.

Fairly or unfairly, the Lib Dems are often seen as opponents of development. This tension underpinned much of the conference, as leaders stressed that the party can balance growth with localism, environmental protection, and community consent.

The clearest expression of this was Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper’s new growth paper. Placing infrastructure at the heart of the party’s economic offer, the paper echoes several ICE policy recommendations, including on major project delivery.

Notably, the party proposes splitting the Treasury into two new departments:

• A Department for Growth, focused on long-term strategy.
• A Department for Public Expenditure, focused on day-to-day value for money.

Meanwhile, fringe events and speeches focused on resilience and national security, reflecting a wider shift in political priorities in the face of global turmoil.

But in one speech, Cooper urged politicians to avoid talking about “tough choices”, saying they should instead simply talk about “choices”.

By being honest with the public about trade-offs, rather than presenting sacrifices as unavoidable, policymakers can better engage the public and rebuild trust and confidence.

Labour promises a new kind of politics

Public control is back, and infrastructure is at the centre of Labour’s devolution agenda.

In a bold speech to a packed conference hall in Liverpool, leader Andy Burnham promised a new politics that puts “growth in every postcode” and “hope in every heart”.

The conference saw a series of infrastructure announcements:

• Great British Grid, a new arm of Great British Energy set to compete with National Grid to speed up development of the UK’s electricity network.
• A new national energy plan and greater local control of the energy system.
• Council control of Warm Homes Plan funding.

Burnham also pledged a “10-year journey to a very different water system”, including the removal of the Thatcher-era ban on public ownership of water companies. Councils will get new powers to hold water companies to account.

Finally, as part of his promise for a “new politics”, Burnham invited all parties to be part of a new national commission on electoral reform.

The link to infrastructure may not be immediately obvious. But if one of Britain's biggest infrastructure weaknesses is a tendency toward policy reversals and short-termism, the institutions of politics matter every bit as much as the engineering.

The Greens branch out, but still lack a wider infrastructure vision

It felt appropriate, heading to the Green Party Conference in Brighton on a warm October day, that the Met Office had just announced the joint-fourth hottest September on record.

But the Greens have come a long way from being just an environmentalist party. The conference featured a heavy policy focus on cost-of-living pressures, from rent caps to food costs.

Fringe events, meanwhile, included a discussion on how the UK can build the homes people need, as well as the infrastructure necessary to make them fit for the future: heat pumps, solar panels, and sustainable drainage.

Another event highlighted how much of the net zero debate focuses on the up-front cost versus the long-term benefit.

Amid a cost-of-living crisis, interventions that take a long time to pay off are hard to justify. But the economy already isn't working for many. Might this give policymakers a license to go further?

While the party is making progress in some policy areas, what was missing was the wider economic vision and the role of infrastructure in delivering it.

In the time before the election, the focus will be on developing that vision.

The Conservatives put regulation in the crosshairs

The Conservatives were back in Birmingham for a notably quieter conference than in previous years. There was still plenty going on, however, as the party set out its stall on planning reform and environmental deregulation.

The biggest announcements came from new shadow chancellor Andrew Grifiths. He said a future Conservative government would abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency and axe a range of planning and development requirements that the party argues slow delivery and inhibit growth.

Reducing the cost of building and buying houses was a major theme. Proposed measures include scrapping net zero housebuilding requirements such as the Future Homes Standard, and removing affordable housing obligations for new developments.

Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden, meanwhile, made infrastructure delivery a central message of his conference speech.

He argued that major transport projects are facing spiralling costs and delays due to excessive planning processes and legal challenges.

Citing planning-related costs for the Lower Thames Crossing (£300m) and Heathrow’s proposed third runway (approaching £1bn), he called for planning requirements for nationally significant infrastructure to be substantially streamlined.

As parliamentary business resumes next week and attention turns to the next general election and beyond, the ICE will continue to engage with all parties and share our impartial, expert insight.