Strangely, the realisation of Blair’s impending departure seems to have released the party and enabled delegates and MPs to relax. It’s noticeable that at this conference, the mood of most delegates hugely affectionate towards him: I’ve been in two meetings where he has spoken today, neither of them wholly filled with loyalist cheerleaders, and both times he was given a standing ovation rather than the usual dutiful applause. Perhaps, knowing he’s going, he’s now treated as above the fray. What do they call it in America - lame duck? There’s something of that about the way he’s being treated, even by delegates who have misgivings about some of his policies.

Other than that, my observations of day two of conference are thin. I only made it to the one fringe today, entitled “Has Labour lost touch with women’s lives?” It was hosted by the EOC, Fawcett, YWCA, TUC, the Fabians, and Oxfam* and chaired by Michael White of the Guardian. The speakers were a desperately lacklustre Ruth Kelly; Madeline Bunting, now at Demos and late of the Guardian; and Deborah Mattinson of Opinion Leader. A further speaker was delayed in the neverending queue for pass pickup - a subject running the deputy leadership race a close second in delegate conversations. The stars of the show were two grassroots women speakers - a woman whose name I didn’t catch representing a Midlands women’s NGO, and a teenage mum who attends YWCA’s centre in Doncaster. The most interesting point was made by Deborah, discussing the received wisdom that David Cameron is popular with women. Her work has found that his honeymoon is well and truly over, with an eight percent loss in popularity since his high watermark amongst men compared to a twelve percent drop for women, putting him on the same trajectory in a similar timescale to William Hague.

Later, at the women’s reception, I collared Ruth Kelly, intending to ask her about the forthcoming white paper on local government. Not a subject of huge interest to many people, but vital to us in Oxford, a city that elects no Tories for any city or county ward, but where a Tory county council can still impose charging for residents’ parking whilst making city-centre parking used mainly by residents of the surrounding areas free. As soon as I said that I was an Oxford city councillor, she realised that I wanted to talk to her about unitary status. With a swift “I’m being lobbied every day about this by your MP…” she moved on. Not sure whether that’s a good or bad sign…

In news about my ego, I’ve been surprised by the number of people, many of whom I don’t know, who’ve come up and said they read this site. It’s very flattering, though I’m surprised that the photos on the site, most of which are pretty old, are any guide to identifying me! I’m trying hard to keep this site updated during conference, which is why it’s particularly galling that my webhosting company has chosen this week to play silly buggers. I hope it’ll be sorted soon.

Tomorrow, I plan to go into Gordon’s speech and see what’s interesting in the fringe, followed by finding a cheesy disco somewhere - well, it wouldn’t be conference if I didn’t dance to Build me up Buttercup at least once.

* Declaration of interest: I’m employed by YWCA and a trustee of Fawcett