Pop-up events venue Politico Pub produced more than two dozen stories and tripled partnership revenue for the political newsbrand at the Labour Party Conference in September.
The Pub is a space built by Politico at major political events where politicians, policymakers and journalists can network and take part in roundtables, fireside chats and live interviews.
Politico Pub at the Labour and Conservative party conferences last year won the Live Journalism (National/International) prize at Press Gazette’s Future of Media Awards in September, with judges praising its “different take on live journalism: interactive, fun and a nice mixture of news and commentary”.
Cristina Gonzalez, Politico’s executive producer of events, Europe told Press Gazette: “There is a magic to live journalism that can’t be replicated by any chatbot. And I think that’s why being physically present in those rooms can actually feel quite special.
“Especially if you know that you’re a part of a news-making moment… it’s something that would be really hard to replicate via AI.”
The Pub returned to the Labour Party Conference in September this year with more than 500 attendees, 22 sessions and 1,760 complimentary drinks served over three days.
It focused its Pub efforts on Labour’s conference as the governing party this year, but also held “speakeasy” drinks events at the Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Reform UK conferences.
The concept started with the CNN-Politico Grills at the Democratic National Convention in 2024 which Gonzalez described as a “really convivial space where people were literally flipping hamburgers” alongside a stage with news-making moments.
Politico then developed it into a pub and took it to the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in February 2025 before arriving at the UK party conferences later that year, with Uber joining as its founding partner.
Gonzalez said it “brings out a different side of people when you are able to bring them into a space that literally invites a more convivial environment.
“Then you put them on a stage, and somehow it’s like their hair is a little looser, or something happens where you’re still able to have those serious, hard-hitting conversations, but they happen in an environment that feels more inviting, and so that was a way in which we were really able to stand out in that first year.”
This year the Pub had five sponsors at the Labour Party Conference, including Uber, tripling its partnership revenue compared with its double-conference attendance in 2025.
The Pub, which has a stocked bar and serves tea and coffee, adds to Politico’s existing conference activity rather than replacing previous events. It used to hold a happy hour reception, which now takes place inside the Pub alongside other events.
Pub as destination and generating content
Part of the Pub’s success is its appeal as a meeting place that conference attendees “genuinely wanted to use”, said Gonzalez.
It also allows Politico to “bring our journalism to life across multiple different platforms,” said Gonzalez, including the website, Playbook newsletters, podcasts and video clips for social media.
“It serves as this spotlight moment where we have our teams who are liveblogging and they’re sending out alerts, they’re writing Playbooks and all the content that’s coming out of it. They’re also getting on livestream to hundreds of viewers.”
Politico published more than 40 videos across its main social accounts during the Labour Party Conference this year, including session wrap-ups, reporter analysis and light-hearted competition clips. “It really becomes something that goes well beyond the Pub,” said Gonzalez.
Politico said stories originating at the Pub led liveblogs from The Guardian, The Times and The Telegraph at various points during the conference.
Exclusive content included Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and Secretary of State for Defence Wes Streeting appearing in succession, allowing Politico to report on their responses to the RAF Fairford incident earlier that day.
“The superpower of it is creating enough compelling content so that other people also want to share it,” said Gonzalez.
“Speakers, our own journalists, that’s the secret sauce: where the content coming out of it is so unique or so compelling that it naturally travels and people want to share it.”
Politico’s specialism in politics and policy also means the Pub brings its journalists in direct contact with its audience.
“It’s about knowing your audience, meeting them where they’re at, and giving them a sense of some things that they maybe hadn’t even dreamed of,” said Gonzalez. “Did you ever imagine that you could actually sit in a pub and talk politics in such a high-level way?”
Around 50 Politico colleagues were in Liverpool for its conference coverage and Pub presence this year.
“It’s not just one department. It is everyone within Politico… it really took a village to build,” said Gonzalez.
Despite the Pub’s success, Gonzalez said it was important “not to rest on your laurels and assume that the same thing that you’ve done before will be the thing that makes it exciting in the future.”
“How that translates then into other markets, other conferences is what is yet to come,” she added.
‘Wouldn’t have happened on another panel event’
Victoria Jackson, executive director of audience and growth at Politico, oversaw the Pub’s implementation in the UK, and noted that the concept was a natural fit “with the political pubs in the Westminster world”.
Jackson said the format also creates opportunities for journalists to follow up on developments and responses in real time, referencing US Senator Lindsay Graham saying at the MSC Pub: “Who gives a shit who owns Greenland? I don’t.”
Senator Thom Tillis responded afterwards onstage: “55,000 indigenous people of Greenland give a shit.” His exchange generated further coverage and was picked up by other outlets.
Jackson said these types of conversations “probably wouldn’t have happened on another panel event because it’s so stilted”.
The Pub has also boosted Politico’s brand perception in the UK, Jackson said, saying politics and policy professionals are now more aware of what they do and that it has helped open doors for new editorial interviewees.
Politico has already secured two high-profile speakers for next year and Jackson added that the Pub has also generated interest in the publisher’s other UK events.
For other events, Jackson said, Politico will have to assess whether conferences have a gap the Pub can fill to make sure they are adding value.
“That’s the key because there’s no point us going to a conference where they already have a convening space that’s brilliant. We don’t want to compete – we want to plug a gap.”
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