Dispatches from the party conferences – Conservative Party

Decked out in banners reading ‘Long term decisions for a brighter future’, the Manchester Convention Complex was the setting for the Prime Minister’s pre-election rallying call this week.

In this second instalment in our conference series, Herbie Lambden, Policy and Public Affairs Executive at the BIA, reports back from Conservative Party Conference.

The reemergence of Liz Truss and Theresa May, the ghosts of Conservatisms past, at this year’s Conference made clear that we are witnessing a fight for the soul of the Tory Party going into the next election and beyond.

Rishi Sunak’s speech painted the PM as the candidate for change, unafraid of big policy decisions that will take years to come to fruition. In cancelling HS2 beyond Birmingham, banning smoking for those born after 2009, and shaking up A-levels, Sunak planted his flag not just for the election, but for a decade of Sunakism.

His speech highlighted that the UK has the largest life sciences sector in Europe and claimed we have the most generous R&D tax relief in the G7, something we’d disagree with following recent changes. 

An opportunity for UK life sciences to play a role in one of these ‘long-term decisions’ was presented by Health Secretary Steve Barclay, who spoke of the uptake of innovation in the NHS. Pledging £30 million for innovative medtech in the NHS, Barclay promised to ‘put patients first’.

Later, in the first ever Conference speech delivered by a Secretary of State for Science, Michelle Donelan reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to achieving science superpower status by 2030. Highlighting the role of AI in diagnosis and the transformative potential of agritech, Donelan boasted that the UK is second in the world for healthcare R&D and a net exporter of pharmaceuticals.

During her speech, Donelan described Science Minister George Freeman as ‘our ever-zestful science superpower’, a moniker which was borne out by Freeman’s many appearances on panels across the conference. Freeman reassured delegates that he is in discussions with the Home Office to ensure that superpower status isn’t scuppered by a ‘visa wall’ preventing talented researchers from reaching the UK. He continued to trumpet the role of life science clusters spread across the UK, hinting that measures to increase foreign investment will be announced in October, and said that scale-ups needed more government support, very much echoing BIA’s work on access to finance.

Freeman also spoke on a BIA panel, his answer to our exam question ‘Can biotechnology save the world?’ a resounding yes. The Minister spoke in bold terms, referencing the role of UK innovation in replacing the entire fossil fuel-based supply chain and in sparking an agrarian revolution.

Our members moa Technology and Shellworks shone, speaking passionately about the pace at which a UK bioeconomy is emerging whilst making clear the barriers that remain. Agile regulation and availability of patient capital were two key policy asks from CEOs if the UK is to cement its place as a world leader in engineering biology.

I departed our panel with a reaffirmed sense of excitement about the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The value of interdisciplinary science was a key theme in our discussion, something which DSIT is uniquely placed to spearhead. We at the BIA look forward to hearing more about the department’s plans in the engineering biology framework due later this year.

Sunak used this year’s conference to put his party on an election footing. The BIA will keep a close eye on what the Conservatives’ manifesto will promise to do next for the UK’s innovative life science and biotech companies should they win the next election.

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