Post-Conference Analysis

Now the party conference season is (mercifully) behind us, I thought I would offer some thoughts on where the main parties now stand:

• The Liberal Democrats are positioning themselves to replace Labour as the progressive party in this country. Frankly, fat fucking chance. Their best bet is to hope they become the junior partner in a coalition. Yet the "savage cuts" rhetoric of Lib Dem leader Clegg jars with the "tax the rich" rhetoric of the barely concealed socialism of the most popular Lib Dem Cable. I suspect they need to work out a functioning coalition within the confines of their own party before they should start worrying about a coalition with another party.
• The Labour Party are fucked; their conference - with Mandelson's assertion that he would work for the Tories, the defection of The Sun and the feeble reminders to the party faithful that they still need to fight the next election even though they will lose - all brought this into sharp relief. Replace Gordon? Why would they bother? They are resigned to defeat - even if it is to be a deep and humiliating one.
• The Conservative Party are starting to act like the next government without taking on too much arrogant swagger. Yet for me the most striking part of the conference was the use of the song "I'm a Believer". For me, it was at jarring reminder that the Tories are still offering very little to actively believe in.

Which is the point. Three parties held their conferences just months before the next General Election needs to be held. And there was nothing in any of the conferences to inspire me in any way. The most hope I can muster is a vague desire that Labour does not win the next election. The three main parties all failed to make a case as to why they should win the next election, and reminded me that whilst those parties aren't identical, there is precious little in the rhetoric to genuinely separate them and inspire faith in any one of them.