As a regular attendee of political party conferences, you see many weird and wonderful ideas designed to engage MPs on exhibition stands.
Whether it be large vehicles, Scalextric sets or bespoke games, making an exhibition stand ‘stand-out’ is a key element to a successful conference.
However, amid the many and varied approaches, there is a more consistent method of message delivery to MPs: maps and constituency profiles.

Postcode Lottery used Polimapper to engage MPs on their stand at the 2023 conferences
Walking around the exhibition halls, as I have done many times over the years, a large number of exhibitors will use the method of engaging MPs through providing data about their area.
This usually takes one of the following forms:
Large printed map – some exhibitors will do what Cancer Research UK did in 2022 and use a large choropleth map of the UK showing geographical variations of an issue – in their case smoking rates across the UK. This is large, impactful, but limited in terms of future uses and only shows one data point.

Constituency handout – other exhibitors have brought with them 300+ constituency handouts (depending on the conference) to give to MPs as and when they visit the stand. While this has the benefit of providing MPs with something to take-away, it’s logistically difficult to organise (leaflets need designing and printing) and not always the best look in these ecologically sensitive times.
Spreadsheet – good old Microsoft Excel has made a few appearances on stands over the years. Usually on a laptop or spreadsheet, it has the advantage of providing multiple statistics to an MP in a low-cost and ecologically sensitive way. However, it lacks visual impact, can be difficult to operate and doesn’t lend itself well to follow-up collateral.
Interactive maps and constituency profiles – choosing an interactive solution for presenting constituency data, as Postcode Lottery did in 2023, has several advantages:
- They’re engaging and will hold an MP’s attention
- They make it visually easy to see national trends and hotspots
- They can show multiple data points
- They can use QR codes so MPs can view them on their own device at the event, or they can be emailed to MPs post event
- They can be updated, reused for future events (or online) and tick the ecologically friendly box
One thing that tends to put people off from going the interactive route is the amount of time and money it takes to engage with designers and developers to build your interactive map. This is where a no-code platform such as Polimapper comes into its own, making it easy and quick to create the visualisations you need.
With so many new MPs to get to know, exhibitors at this year’s political party conferences will want to ensure that their first interactions with them are meaningful and engaging.
As we’ve covered extensively in other blogs and elsewhere on this website, utilising constituency level data is a tried and tested method of doing so.
If you’re exhibiting at this year’s party conference, which method will you choose?