Anders Hanson

Today was Ming’s big moment. Did he pull it off? Yes, I think he did. The word I would use is solid. It had the right messages, and there were some particularly good lines. It could perhaps have been delivered more strongly, but then the majority of people will only hear clips on the news rather than whole thing. To me the worst thing was the way that the lighting in the hall reflecting off his glasses created an odd look on the big screens, but I notice that wasn’t the case on television. It did the trick, and with most people agreeing that Charles’ speech went on too long, he had the desired effect. Ming got longer applause and standing ovation than Charles. But the Lib Dems are a community, and so with the press gunning for him, no one in the hall was going to let Ming not get more applause.

This conference has gone well for the party. It has a radical new tax policy, which is as redistributive as the old one but clearly sets out the party’s credentials on the environment. Basically, the party has grown up. It is curious though that the new tax plans were pilloried by some of the party as being far too right-wing, and then you read the Telegraph which claims that it is a lurch to the left. Perhaps that means that the balance is just right. One thing you cannot do though is blame (or credit) Ming for the new policy. It was Charles that set in motion the plans for the new policy, Ming picked it up later and made it a bigger deal.

This was a very big conference. There were more Liberal Democrats at this conference than ever before, and yet despite this those of us who worked on registration were quite chuffed that the number of people in the queue for badges was never in double figures. There is a pretty good stewarding team which is made up almost entirely of volunteers, but the one place where there were some problems - queueing for the bag check - was actually in the hands of an external contractor. My gripe with the conference will always be the same though. Most stewards are great, but some get really officious and are really quite rude when they ask you to turn your badge over or when you are asking them a question. Still, I do enjoy stewarding, and particularly enjoy registration as you see a real cross-section of the party.

One regret of conference is never taking advantage of my stay in the Hilton Brighton Metropole to have breakfast or go for a swim. Most nights at conference are spent talking and drinking until very late in the hotel bar. Which means that when the alarm goes off I roll over and have a bit longer in bed rather than going and eating or swimming.

When conference starts it feels as though it will go on for ages and that there’s plenty of time in which to do things. Then suddenly, you reach the last day and that is it. Staying up late in the bar is great because you can catch up with friends, but by the end of the week you realise that time has run out and there are some people you still didn’t get a chane to catch up with. Some conference representatives think that conference drags on, but I love it and could stay for longer. That is sad, but alas it is now over and it is back to normal life.

Conference to me is partly about catching up with people, and working on registration again has made me realise quite how many people I know, but the big thing about it is that it recharges you and re-enthuses you. It makes you remember exactly what it’s all about and quite how many brilliant Lib Dems there are (although it does remind you how many nutters there are as well) and how much people are achieving or want to achieve. That’s it until March, and I can’t wait for our next conference in Harrogate.