Labour Conference returns to Manchester...

Following the huge success of this year's annual conference in Manchester, the Labour Party has announced a return to the city for its 2008 and 2010 conferences.

It's great news for Manchester which has seen an amazing renaissance over the past decade. When Labour came to government in 1997, the city was dying on its feet, with a dwindling population.

Only 300 people lived in Manchester City Centre. Many believed it was in terminal decline after 18 years of Tory boom and bust.

Today, Manchester City Centre is home to over 16,000 people and it's fast becoming one of the leading business centres in Europe thanks to sustained economic growth and massive investment by a Labour Government working with a go-ahead Labour city council led by Richard Leese.

This year was the first time in over 80 years the Labour Party held its annual conference in Manchester and delegates loved the city.

As Europe’s largest political conference, the Labour Conference attracts thousands of delegates and visitors together with global leaders and the world’s press.

Manchester estimates this year's Conference generated over £35 million of economic benefit for the city-region.

Leader of Manchester City Council Sir Richard Leese says:

"This is great news for our city. Manchester received a huge boost to its international reputation thanks to the world-class way we hosted the 2006 Labour Party Conference.

The incredible facilities around our conference quarter will be even better by 2008 and 2010 and we will keep building on our success to attract even more major conferences, which bring more jobs and investment for our city.

We have an outstanding range of national and international events due to take place in the next 24 months, and we will be pushing those successes to bring real benefits to communities across the city."

Next year, the Conference will be in Bournemouth, in 2008 it will be in Manchester, 2009 in Brighton and 2010 back to Manchester.