From Red Caps to Rally Halls: How The Built Environment took over Labour Conference

Organiser: “What are we going to do?” Crowd: “Build, Baby, Build!” That’s how the Labour YIMBY Rally began — a sea of red caps and flags filling the venue ahead of Housing Secretary Steve Reed MP’s speech. The echoes of President Trump’s rallies weren’t lost on anyone. One attendee joked, “all we’re missing is a t-shirt cannon.”

It was a deliberate shift in tone: a ‘populist centre’ tactic of generating American campaign energy and pairing it with a progressive housing message. The same energy spilled across the conference, where delegates queued to have caps, bucket hats and flags signed by Reed – more Glastonbury than Labour Conference.

The Built Environment Centre Stage

From the built environment world, it was reassuring to see the built environment continue to be firmly at the centre of the conference and the government’s wider plan for growth. At LCA’s Annual Reception, we brought together clients and London influencers with Mayor Sadiq Khan and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP, who both underlined London’s role as a driver of national growth.

We also supported Opportunity London in hosting a dinner with senior business leaders from the capital’s built environment sector and London borough leaders. Capping off a great night, we heard from Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development, and recently promoted James Murray MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Housing dominated the policy fringe programme, to the extent that difficult decisions were needed when figuring out which of the three clashing events to attend. It was great to see Labour YIMBY, Labour Housing Group (LHG) and many think tanks and campaign groups packing out rooms on topics from New Towns to construction skills.

Housing Minister, Matthew Pennycook MP’s LHG in-conversation event was standing room only, while Chris Curtis MP, Co-Chair of the LHG, spoke powerfully about his family’s opportunities growing up in Milton Keynes — a new town created in the 1960s under Harold Wilson’s Labour government.

To the onlooker, the mood music was positive across the fringe – to the extent that you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a job well done and we can all pack up and go home happy. But beyond the Liverpool bubble, there remains frustration at the distance between the optimism and reality.

As we all know, red caps and snappy slogans won’t get shovels in the ground to deliver the 1.5 million new homes promised. In my opinion, policy announcements at party conferences require a more generous analysis, as they are historically more focused on style over substance – aimed at the party faithful (who will hopefully relay their optimism to the journalists in attendance).

But a policy light conference doesn’t excuse the elephants in the room – we still have chronic Building Safety Regulator delays, affordable housing viability challenges, and significant issues with our ailing infrastructure.

Labour’s Vision for National Renewal

The overarching messaging at conference was focused on the slogan, Renew Britain. The tone was set by the Labour Government’s announcement ahead of conference to invest up to £5 billion through the Pride in Place Programme, aimed at reviving 339 high streets, parks and public spaces.

Housing Secretary Steve Reed his Conference Hall speech announced that the Labour Government will take forward 12 new towns proposed by the New Towns Taskforce. Two of the sites selected are in London (Chase Park and Crews Hill, Enfield and Thamesmead, Greenwich). Reed committed to establishing a New Towns Unit to fast-track development so the building of at least three towns will begin by the next general election. Leeds South Bank, Tempsford and Crews Hill (Enfield) were identified as the most promising sites.

The age-old question remains: how will it be funded? Councils also need to know whether new homes count towards their housing targets (they currently don’t). Thorough answers wouldn’t make for a popular soundbite in the Conference Hall, only distracting from the wider political vision. Instead, it will be a conversation that dominates more than just fringe events and business must see it as a prime opportunity to partner with government to find sustainable solutions.

We also heard Prime Minister Keir Starmer in his headline speech commit to scrapping the target to get 50% of England’s young people into university, replacing it with an ambition to get two-thirds of young people going to university or a ‘gold standard’ apprenticeship. This built on Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s commitment to a new guarantee for every young person struggling to find work.

In a reversal of Labour’s long-standing position, Starmer said the previous policy wasn’t “right for our times.” As well as helping secure support from Labour’s traditional working-class base, it will begin to improve the skills pipeline into key sectors struggling to find the right people, including the construction industry. A welcome priority of this government, as it follows the £600 million announced at the last Spring Statement for construction skills training.

Making ‘Build, Baby, Build’ Happen

After a conference heavy with red caps, slogans, and bold promises, the built environment leaves with its profile raised — but the same delivery challenges remain.

Reed evoked the spirit of Nye Bevan and the post-war Labour Government in the Conference Hall, stating ‘We have been the dreamers, we have been the sufferers, but now, we are the builders.’ Whether this marks a new era will depend on overcoming regulatory and funding obstacles. But what’s clear is that the built environment is no longer on the sidelines — and the sector must now turn ‘Build, Baby, Build’ from a rallying cry into delivery.