Tuesday is now the day for "the Leader's Speech". Since I first came to conference in 2000, I've seen speeches from Blair, Brown & Miliband - yesterday was different, though shared many characteristics with those. There was great anticipation, and horribly long queues. I was in the queue by 11-30 (previous experience has taught me that turning up late means that the ticket is useless - last year I queued from 11-55 until turned away at 14-00). But being in the queue is interesting. You get the chance for some long conversations with interesting people. This year was no exception - and I got to chat with an experienced councillor from Kent, who lost his seat last May, blown away by Tory & UKIP voters coming out in force; and some students from Oxford and London. It was interesting to discuss different perspectives on what is happening.)
The speech itself was interesting - with some great lines and ideas which caught the mood of the hall. But how did people see it from outside the hall? The answer to that is key - and I'd welcome your comments. My webpage has a contact page - and do share with me your thoughts - www.jdmprogressive.com.
The first meeting of the morning had been on the problem of criminals who run scams - using sophisticated techniques - and who can defraud people of large sums of money - and destroy lives. I will be posting about the issue shortly.
I spent time in plenary - and listened to Lisa Nandy on Energy & Climate Change. I also had some long chats with old and new friends. After the Leaders speech I did another training course - something that will wholly dominate Wednesday.
I'm not much of a "party guy" - so I spent a quiet evening reflecting upon what I have learnt in the last few days - and turning that into plans for the months to come. I'll be leaving Brighton invigorated - and ready to campaign.
No comments:
Post a Comment