Conference Blues

11.15.50am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 22nd Sep 2006

Colin gets the Conference Blues

Conference has been a gone for another year. I have to say I really did not enjoy it this year, mainly because I spent most of the week really quite ill. I spent most of my conference training in the Holiday Inn whose Air Condition left a lot to be desired, this combined with the general in and out of hotels and the conference centre left me with the most awful head-cold. To add injury to insult I also got struck down by eating salmon which I have an allergy to at the International VIPs and Diplomats reception (obviously I did not realise it was salmon until too late). So if you saw me at conference and I look awful it was because I was!

However Conference happened, or rather at least two and more likely three Conferences happened. There has been a trend over the last few years for not only the official Conference to take place - the one that is on the television and the Conference Centre but also the fringe and training has exploded massively - many people can go to Brighton, or wherever, and not go into the Conference Hall at all - sadly I was involved too much in this second conference as a trainer. There is also a third Conference happening a secret Conference - I always knew about this Conference but again over the last few years I have been invited to more of it. Its not really secret but it is made up of briefing sessions, special training or special fringe meetings that are not advertised to the whole of conference but selected delegates because of the seat they live in or the committee they sit on or what they do for the party - again I spent much time at this Conference too.

There were several highlights and several lowlights, a highlight is always seeing my friends from elsewhere in the UK who are Liberal Democrats (and some who are not!) and this year going to Terre a Terre with my friends, the Leader's speech is normally a highlight (more on that in a moment), I certainly thought that the Tax debate, and outcome, was a highlight as were a number of other policy motions such as our local MEP Liz Lynne's motion on the modern slavery of human trafficking. On the Fringe some of the international sessions were great and my other highlight was Charles Kennedy's speech (again more in a moment). My main lowlight was just being ill which effected everything.

Before Conference there was a discussion of Charles verses Ming and I believe there was during conference in the media and I guess by what I am about to write I will be extending this discussion a bit more and I am not overly apologetic for that. Firstly let me for the record state I am a huge Ming fan and really think he will take us a very long way towards, if not into, Government - I also like Charles a lot he did a fantastic amount to develop the party and hope he will continue to do so, I also think the media wants to play this story of some form to Charles comeback.

I heard part of Charles' speech and all of Ming's they are very different people and have different skills and qualities. Charles was fantastic but I believe he actually deliberately made his speech in a way not to upstage Ming - Charles is a far better speaker than Ming at Party Conference and this years was the great tub-thumbing speech we would normally expect until he seemed to deliberately go flat - if this was the case I really thank him for doing that, since Charles has not been Leader he has behaved fantastically. Ming's speech was good, what he said was very good, the presentation was, in my view, exceptionally poor - very wooden and what is he doing when he does that arm thing? I am normally a loyalist and I don't think the comments I just wrote are disloyal but they may be viewed as that, Ming will grow into the job but he needs his team to help him work on the presentational side.