On 26 November 1930 the conference social secretaries distributed a note to delegates acknowledging that even the best connected of them might be without somewhere to gather over the Christmas holiday. As above, the concern was that delegates would not have a home in which to spend such a special time. Benn responded by hosting a Christmas Day party at Chesterfield Gardens but hosts and hostesses also offered temporary access to that nebulous domestic atmosphere, ‘home life’, during the festive period.

Such invitations were also, of course, political. This could be overt, such as when Benthall invited the Indian labour delegate N. M. Joshi and his daughter to join him and some friends on Boxing Day, given that they all happened to be spending the holiday period near Bishopsteignton in Devon. On 1 January 1931 Benthall wrote to Sir George Godfrey in Calcutta that Joshi had been ‘greeted with some good old fashioned reactionary stuff’ from Princess Marie Louise, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria who had also joined him, which he felt would have done Joshi ‘a lot of good’. He also explained his long conversations with Joshi regarding safeguards for communal minorities, representation for mill workers and labour unions in Bengal. Benthall concluded, ‘Altogether I struck up quite a useful social acquaintance with him, which may be advantageous in time to come if he ever shows interest in labour on the Bengal side.’ Should this threaten Benthall’s interests, he clearly though his homely chat with Joshi might help him make his case at a later date.

Beyond such overtly political moments, home entertaining was a key facet in the broader hospitality programme which Benn felt was vital for the conference’s success. The receptions, lunches and dinners outlined in previous chapters were the public face of this hospitalitality.