Port of Dover party conference season unites politicians on plan for economic growth
Doug Bannister, Chief Executive of Port of Dover with Mike Tapp, MP for Dover and Deal and Liam Byrne MP, the newly elected Chair of Business and Trade Committee
As the UK’s busiest port and the critical gateway for trade with the EU, the Port of Dover is central to the nation’s economic future. A series of receptions during the recent party conference season gave politicians a chance to hear more about why collaboration will be key to delivering the Port’s ambitions and unlocking national economic growth.
Party conferences are an important opportunity to shape the ideas of politicians, build impactful relationships, and set out how different organisations can support the aims and objectives of legislators.
The Labour and Conservative Party Conferences provided a timely opportunity for the Port of Dover to share its new long-term plan to grow in a way that is sustainable and that adds enormous value to the national economy.
“Labour came into government with an ambition to kick start the economy and deliver economic growth, a decade of renewal, and forge closer ties with Europe,” Doug Bannister Chief Executive of Port of Dover, told the Labour event. “Dover is at the epicentre of all of these ambitions.”
The numbers confirm that Dover already holds a vital place in the nation’s economy. As the UK’s busiest port, Dover is a vital gateway for the movement of people and trade. The Port handles £144 billion of trade per year, accounts for 33% of UK trade in goods with the EU and welcomes over 11 million passengers annually.
But with changing trading relationships with our neighbours, new challenges around sustainability, and the advent of new technologies, the Port of Dover is ambitious to do even more. The roadmap for translating ambition into action is a bold new framework called Port of Dover 2050: Empower Exchange.
Unveiled during the Labour Party Conference, the new masterplan sets out the steps that will ensure that Dover continues to grow as the UK's most seamless, sustainable, and technologically enabled port. When delivered, it is calculated that the new strategy could increase the value of trade handled at Dover by 20%, increasing to £173bn each year at 2024 prices.
Mike Tapp, new MP for Dover and Deal, believes that could prove to be transformational in the context of the government’s wider growth agenda.
“The Port of Dover is at the very centre of our nation's economy,” Tapp told attendees, who included Mike Kane MP, Minister for Aviation, Maritime and Security. “This highlights the vital position that Dover holds not just for my constituency and the South East, but for the country as a whole. The Port of Dover is uniquely placed to support British business and deliver economic growth and that mission is, without doubt, shared by this government.”
That message, about the fundamental importance of Dover to the nation’s economy, was also echoed at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham. There, Greg Smith MP, who is a Shadow Minister in the Department of Business and Trade, and also in the Department of Transport, told attendees that his party wanted to work constructively with government to ensure the Port’s continuing success.
“One of the key roles of opposition isn't just to shout and to throw stones, but to ensure the government isn't failing,” Smith said. “At the end of the day, we want the government to succeed because if the government fails, then the whole country fails. We want to be part of a constructive opposition and make sure they're doing the right things, - by our ports, by our whole transport infrastructure, by our future trading relationships with the rest of the world.”
Recently elected Chair of Business and Trade Committee Liam Byrne MP, who also spoke at the Labour event, highlighted a clear overlap between the Port’s own ambitions and those of the government.
“We have a shared interest in making sure that Dover prospers and grows,” Byrne said, adding that he wants to see his Select Committee become a place where collaborative approaches can be forged. “There is that old proverb that if you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far, go together,” Byrne explained. “I hope the message that you receive loud and clear from tonight and from this conference is that we are determined to do this together.”
Byrne’s plea for collaboration to achieve the shared aim of driving national economic growth echoed a key theme of the Empower Exchange plan. If Dover is to deliver on its full potential, Bannister told guests, a range of different partners will have to play a role.
“The thing is it's not the Port of Dover's plan,” he explained. “It's our collective ambition. When we're out communicating it, we're bringing the hopes, the ambitions of our entire community, our entire stakeholder base with us.”
That collaboration will be vital if the Port of Dover is to achieve its ambitions and meet the challenges that lie ahead including the impending introduction of the European Entry/Exit System (EES) which requires the collection of biometric information at Dover. Help is also needed to maintain progress on the sustainability agenda by unlocking investment in the infrastructure required to support the electrification of the short straits crossing as Dover aims to become the UK’s first high-volume green shipping corridor.
Greg Smith MP is in little doubt that the significance of Dover will only continue to increase in the years ahead as the UK’s trading relationships continue to evolve.
“The Port of Dover will only become more and more important,” Smith predicts. “ We must remember that 95% of goods entering this country come by sea and the role of the Port of Dover and all of our ports in enabling that is hugely significant.”
As a Port that operates at the beating heart of the nation, supporting businesses and communities across the UK, it felt appropriate that the Port of Dover’s conference activities managed to seamlessly blend the serious and the fun.
Featuring an evening of live music with an exciting new reception concept called “Dover Soul,” it appears that, as well as driving national economic growth, the Port of Dover also has an ambition to put the “party” firmly into “party conference season". Be sure not to miss it in 2025!
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