Historic conference return will see Boris Johnson among the speakers at Blackpool's Winter Gardens

The Grade II listed landmark once regularly hosted national party conferences, but fell out of favour when its ageing facilities failed to meet modern day standards.

It is nearly 15 years since the last national party political conference was held in the resort when the Conservatives met for their main October gathering in 2007.

But a £28m new conference centre at the Winter Gardens and massive investment in the Empress Ballroom means Blackpool is back – hosting the Conservative Party Spring Conference on Friday and Saturday.

The arrival of delegates for two days of speeches and debate will be the highest profile event at the new complex since it was completed at the beginning of the year and is expected to be worth £2.4m to the town’s economy.

As well as Boris Johnson, who is due to address delegates on Saturday, other speakers will include Chancellor Rishi Sunak on Friday, and ministers Grant Shapps, Sajid Javid, Michael Gove, Liz Truss, Priti Patel and Defence minister Ben Wallace, who represents Wyre and Preston North.

Blackpool Council leader Coun Lynn Williams said: “This weekend is a key moment in the history of the Winter Gardens and for Blackpool as a whole.

“I am delighted to see the first major event being held in our new state-of-the-art conference centre.

“This has been the culmination of years of planning as we strived to once again become the location of choice for business tourism.

“The Conservative Party Spring Conference brings with it huge media attention. It will be a proud moment to see Blackpool showcased across the country and further afield.”

Winter Gardens managing director Michael Williams said: “The team at the Winter Gardens is looking forward to welcoming back delegates for the Conservative Party Spring Conference.

“It will be the first time the Conservative Party has hosted a major conference in Blackpool since 2007 and we estimate the event will be worth £2.4m to the local economy.

“The new Conference and Exhibition Centre has been purposely designed to accommodate conferences of this nature, with state-of-the-art facilities, so I am confident it will be very well received by the conference organisers and their delegates.

“This is an ideal opportunity for Blackpool to shine and to showcase the new facility in order to attract other conferences in the future.”

Tony Williams, leader of the Conservative group on the council, also welcomed Blackpool’s chance to restore its place in political history.

He said: “Hopefully they will all enjoy their time in Blackpool and we will make them welcome and we may see the return of the main October conference.

“There is a long list of historic political speeches which have been made in Blackpool including William Hague’s maiden speech, Margaret Thatcher securing a third term and it is also where Tony Blair cemented many of his policies.”

The journey back for the Winter Gardens began in 2010 when the council bought it along with the Tower and the Golden Mile Centre in a £40m deal partly funded by the then Labour Government.

Subsequent investment has included the £1.25m refurbishment of the Church Street entrance, rotunda and Floral Hall and £4m of repairs to the ballroom ceiling and Spanish hall roof.

Construction of the new conference centre began in 2018, with funding including £15m from the government’s Growth Deal, £7m from Blackpool Council, and £2.9m from the Coastal Communities Fund.

The added capacity brings the total for the whole Winter Gardens complex to 7,000.

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