I'll let you into a secret; party conferences are pretty dry affairs; beige buffets, warm sauvignon blanc and earnest, single-issue wonks handing out leaflets all blend into an amorphous backdrop to the search for enough meaningful engagement to justify three days out of the office.

For sure, there can be moments of history, drama, theatre or all three - I'm old enough (just) to remember the Tories triumphantly chanting "Ten More Years!" six short weeks before defenestrating Margaret Thatcher. Who can forget 'that' walk on the beach at Brighton, or the tragicomedy of Theresa May's 2017 speech. For the most part, however, these are fairly desiccated affairs even for the most dedicated government relations pro, looking to land their organisation's asks and take away key insight.

Reflecting back on the conference season just gone, this year felt different. We are at such a key point in the political cycle, and a close understanding of the state of play of all three main parties is important. Each one had its own focus and priorities - and its own challenges - but setting out a stall to the UK and the world about their priorities in government was common to all three.

The Liberal Democrats were focused on devolution - bordering on hyperlocalism - climate change and decarbonisation and the social and physical infrastructure that the UK needs to perform and grow. Learning the lessons perhaps of 2010-15, there was little talk of coalition but much of red lines that could not be crossed if the party were to support a minority government.

Moving to Manchester, whatever the Conservatives hoped to achieve, only two things dominated their conference; HS2 and the Truss/Farage show. Even the Prime Minister's prior announcement, rowing back on carbon commitments - which had threatened to overshadow the conference - was lost in the noise of these big two issues. The PM himself, who might have been expected to use his last conference speech before the election as a rallying tour d'horizon, rousing the party faithful and underscoring Conservative values, opted for a low key, technocratic focus.

Labour's Liverpool conference was ordered, careful and almost too busy - harassed shadow ministers traversing the secure zone at a march followed by a comet's trail of advisors and minders led to a quantity of engagement but perhaps not a quality. Messages were carefully crafted and the clear objective was to project 'government in waiting' without ever actually uttering the words. Despite a strong speech - and a highprofile glitter-bombing - from Sir Keir Starmer, it was Rachel Reeves who was undoubtedly conference's darling; delivering a crowd-pleasing speech that simultaneously hit the right notes for business, centrist floating voters and the Labour party faithful.

As a Dutch-headquartered global business with a large footprint in the UK, Arcadis is apolitical but acutely interested in and invested in UK politics. In what is our second largest global market, government policy direction drives our own investment decisions and determines the behaviours of many of our largest global clients.

Our expectations of Government mirror the pragmatism and rationality that is the hallmark of the Dutch psyche; we expect to see commitment to long-term stewardship of natural resources and a recognition that our climate and the environment are capital to be husbanded, not revenue to be spent. We expect to see a government that carefully plans to invest the resources of all in national infrastructure for the benefit of all - a concept so Dutch, they even have a word for it; Polderen. We expect to see a government that commits to delivering long-term, robust growth, equitably distributed across the country and supported by clearlyarticulated, credible plans that investors can get behind.

Last week, held in this city at the iconic location of Lord's cricket ground, Arcadis set out our new three-year strategy that will talk to these points. Within the first year of that strategic period, the UK will go to the polls. This year's conference season has given us a clear view on what a new Labour government, a Labour-led minority government or a continuation Conservative government would each offer. We - and many others - will be looking to see stable commitments to investment, unambiguous proposals for climate change and decarbonisation and robust policies to deliver economic growth across the UK.

We saw line of sight to this from the aspirant parties in Liverpool and Bournemouth. We perhaps saw less of it in Manchester. If the Conservatives wish to make good their mistakes they should think carefully about the messages that land with key audiences, including businesses such as Arcadis. Like all businesses with significant presences in the UK, we'll be watching closely.

(c) 2023 City A.M., source Newspaper