Conference Blog - Day 5 Wednesday

12.28.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 18th Sep 2008

The final day arrived with the usual rush to get out of the hotel and to the conference centre in time for the first meeting of the day. Today this was for a friendly chat and a coffee with the next MP for Watford, Sal Brinton. Sal was upbeat and looking forward to the challenges ahead.

Off next to the Parliamentary Parties Question and Answer session. After some complex questions on Europe and UK policy, the 'experimental' format yielded some good exchanges on policy and strategy, answered by key drivers of our policy in Parliament, the Lords and Europe.

The penultimate session was a policy motion on personal data. There were some lively exchanges on whether the motion went far enough or too far in protecting civil liberties. Most of the contention revolved around whether the DNA of those accused of violent and sexual offences should be retained even if the individual was acquitted. At the minute, everyone who has a DNA sample taken has their DNA kept by the police, even if they were acquitted of littering. This government wants to be big brother and the Conservatives are as bad if not worse. I wonder when they'll issue us with grey boiler suits......

The final session has been reported widely, so there's no real need to go through it all again. I thought Nick's speech was great, he spoke with passion and conviction again, and seems to have begun to really grow into the role of leader. His perspective on the future is clear and optimistic, seeing a real direction to a better Britain, and laying out the path to that in our policies and the people we need to deliver them.

After the usual queue to get out of the hall, it was back into the car and off back to sunny Hatfield, and lo and behold when we arrived it was sunny! But not for long. Oh well, so much for summer! But the company on the return was pleasant as I gave Nigel Quinton a lift back. We talked about many things from mutual friends from the past to what the future holds.

So another conference fades into history. I've really enjoyed my time in Bournemouth and I'm looking forward to Harrogate. It should be a really vibrant conference, we'll be discussing all aspects of education policy. Some of this will surely be contentious and I'll look forward to my first speech on the main stage. Wish me luck!

I'll be posting from Harrogate when the time comes, so watch out for my next conference blog in due course!