The Centre for Cities hosted events at all three main party conferences.

Labour conference, Manchester

Download a summary of our events at the Labour conference here.

Cities Question Time
6pm 25 September, Bridgewater Hall
Sponsored by the British Property Federation

The Centre for Cities worked withPolicy Exchange to run an event in the style of BBC1's Question Time. The discussion included topics such as city-regions, the Northern Way, the Olympics, housing, planning and transport – plus the forthcoming Local Government White Paper, the Lyons Inquiry and Comprehensive Spending Review.

Panel:
Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government
Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London
Richard Leese, Leader, Manchester City Council
Liz Peace, Chief Executive, British Property Federation
Tom Bloxham, Chairman, Urban Splash

UK Enterprise: what should government do next?
6.15pm 26 September, Bridgewater Hall
Sponsored by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales

The Government has placed enterprise at the heart of its productivity and growth agenda. Following on from our City Markets report, this event considered what the Government can do to support business growth in deprived areas, how business support can be streamlined without undermining local business growth, how to build on Enterprise Insight by promoting enterprise in schools and among young people, and how we can better equip businesses to face the challenges of globalisation.

Panel:
Margaret Hodge MP, Minister of State for Industry & the Regions
Ian McCartney MP, Minister of State for Trade
Eric Anstee, Chief Executive, ICAEW
Angie Robinson, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce
Phil Redmond, Merseyside Entrepreneurship Commission

Conservative conference, Bournemouth

City Leadership: are elected mayors the answer?
12.45pm 2 October, Purbeck Lounge, Bournemouth International Conference Centre
Sponsored by the British Property Federation

This event, in conjunction with Policy Exchange, considered the Conservative Party's renewed interest in cities. It was be run in the format of BBC1's Question Time, with questions from the floor and audience interaction.

Panel:
Steve Norris
Liz Peace, Chief Executive, British Property Federation
James Brokenshire MP
Nick Boles
David Frost, Director-General, British Chambers of Commerce

Liberal Democrat conference, Brighton

Making Cities Work: what next?
12.45pm 20 September, Metropole
Sponsored by KPMG

This event took the form of BBC1's Question Time format, and was hosted with Centre Forum.

Panel:
Barbara Janke, Leader, Bristol City Council
David Frost, Director-General British Chambers of Commerce
Andrew Stunell, Shadow Secretary of State for DCLG
Tony Travers, Director, Greater London Group, LSE