Party Conferences; what are they good for?
Opinion about the LibDem conference in general, and Ming’s efforts in particular, is mixed in the newspapers. The supportive Independent thinks that the old boy done good. The Times and Guardian are lukewarm at best.
But the most perceptive comment comes in the Telegraph leader. Writing about "the vast mass of the electorate" it reminds us that for them "the events in Brighton will have impacted not one jot".
Comrades getting ready to travel to Manchester next week should remind themselves that party conferences are essentially about rallying the troops. They are for having a good time at, not for changing the world.....
posted by Hughes Views @ 8:56 am
3 comments
3 Comments:
And yet, last year's Tory conferences did have a massive impact. It was their relative performances there (and the way those perfromances were covered by ITN) that saw David Davis go from dead cert to dead duck, and Cameron from rank outsider to major contender. The Telegraph is being disingenuous - conferences have as much impact on the electorate as the media decides they'll have.
Aren't conferences also about plotting, intrigue, conspiracy, back-stabbing and grandstanding - as well as the more conventional ways of "having a good time"? From this point of view Labour's conference should be jolly good fun.
Gregg, Politaholic, thanks for your comments.
Gregg you're right of course that David Cameron's conference speech last year probably got him elected and that that has had a massive impact on his party (and may yet on the country if he were to become PM). But I think the Telegraph was talking about a more immediate effect and hinting that only political junkies are really interested in most of what happens at these jamborees.
Politaholic, you're spot on and, today being the start of the governing party's one, it gives an opportunity for all those earnest single issue protesters to go and vent their righteous wrath that the world isn't quite as nice as they would like. If you're going, I hope you have a splendid time......
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