Thousands of Labour activists travelled to Liverpool this week, their numbers swelled by the excitement of Labour being in government. This army of those who, at the very least, want to improve society somewhat — the councillors, campaigners, trade unionists and the like — were joined by another battalion group: a legion of corporate lobbyists. They brought their soulless imitation of politics, wearing the clothes of campaigns and debates but driven by the opposite impulse: to manage, divert and exploit people’s passions to protect corporate profits.

One of the most extreme examples of the weird, empty politics of the lobbyists appeared in the Breaking Down Barriers tent, erected inside the conference security zone by the Purpose Coalition. They held around twenty meetings in their fancy marquee — more conference meetings than many better-known Labour groups. Their leader told delegates they were a ‘member-based organisation and network united by a commitment to demonstrate the social value and social impact that can be made now, the action we can take, the difference that we can make, and how we can measure and embed that in our daily work,’ adding, ‘we build up advocacy for change and identify opportunities for thought leadership.’

If this sounds like a computer simulation of politics or a malfunctioning AI rewrite of a party manifesto, it’s because the ‘members’ of the Purpose Coalition are large corporations using a phoney-looking ‘campaign’ to talk to politicians. The ‘coalition’ is fronted by former Labour MP John Woodcock, AKA Baron Walney. At their meetings, Woodcock reminded delegates he was an ex-Labour MP, but not that in 2019, he stood down and told voters they should back Boris Johnson instead before being rewarded with a seat in the Lords. The 2024 Tory defeat leaves Woodcock somewhat ‘outside the tent’ for the new Labour government, but he is trying to get back in, courtesy of an actual tent.

The Purpose Coalition held meetings funded by private rail firms, NHS outsourcers, privatiser Sodexo, and Leonardo, one of the world’s biggest arms firms, which makes cannons used by the Israel Defence Forces and parts for Apache helicopters. This wasn’t the most successful lobbying drive, and only managed to attract a couple of ministers — Jacqui Smith and Lord Timpson — and a handful of backbenchers as speakers. But it was certainly one of the weirdest. For reasons only their brand consultants know, their tent was filled with hundreds of red rubber ducks of various sizes, the inexplicable mascot of Woodcock’s ‘coalition’.

The invasion of the lobbyists, however,  was not confined to these wacky fringes of the conference. Ministers addressed hundreds of meetings funded by businesses who helped set the agenda of the debate and had their executives on the top table.

Activists and lobbyists also swirled together, although I think the former don’t really grasp what the latter are doing. LabourList is a key publication for ordinary members. Their meetings always engage the grassroots, so their Conference rally is a significant event. A succession of ministers addressed the rally, including Lisa Nandy, Stella Creasy, Alison McGovern and Liz Kendall. They all highlighted positive Labour moves like paying striking doctors, nationalising rail and giving local councils the power to run bus services, which are popular with members, and emphasised that these members were crucial to Labour’s victory. 

Nandy told attendees, ‘The biggest damage the Tories did is the loss of hope’ as ‘so many people lost the belief that politics is the route for change.’ Creasy restated Harold Wilson’s dictum, ‘Labour is a moral crusade, or it is nothing.’ But all the speakers did this in front of a banner for WPI Strategy, who were thanked for funding the venue and free bar. WPI Strategy is an essentially Conservative lobbying firm founded by two Tory directors —  former David Cameron adviser Sean Worth and Nick Faith. They offer clients their ‘highly experienced team drawn from the most senior roles in government’, but their Tory links were made useless by Labour’s victory. So WPI funded the LabourList rally, having already hired Keir Starmer’s former director of policy, Claire Ainsley, who also spoke at the rally without revealing her new lobbying job. 

WPI’s recent clients include Pennon Group, the owner of sewage polluter South West Water, the privatiser Mitie, and Uber Eats. Their involvement is the opposite of politics as a ‘moral crusade’ or a ‘route for change’ — it is the politics of insiders-for-hire, artificial astroturf campaigns and corporate paid-for management of democracy. Poetically, the rally was held in Revolución de Cuba, a bar using socialist chic to sell cocktails.

Two forces had previously held back the lobbying of Labour. First, under Corbyn and for the brief period Starmer posed as a leftish leader, corporate-backed gigs were less acceptable. Second, lobbyists were less interested in Labour as an opposition party that was close to but not in power. Both these limits are now gone, prompting a corporate surge. 

Relying on bankers, energy firms, arms giants, outsourcers and more to fund or run Labour events is so embedded that it would take a profound shift to end it. Repeated scandals over freebies, cash-for-access, or MPs for hire show voters are repelled by corporate lobbying. However, ministers are clearly enjoying the corporate wooing so much that they will try to power through temporary embarrassment. They welcome the lobbyists as a sign of Labour’s success, seeing these businesses as partners — partners in government or partners who will employ them in post-ministerial careers.

Trade Minister Douglas Alexander told it how it is at a meeting sponsored by Barclays. Sat on a panel next to a Barclays executive and Iain Anderson, a formerly Tory lobbyist who put his firm closer to government by noisily switching to Labour, Douglas Alexander said his party and government need to be in a ‘constant dialogue with wealth creators’ — meaning banks and corporations. The Labour Conference has become a place for ministers to have their dialogue with ‘wealth creators’ while the party members watch and clap.