It’s that time of year again.

Party conference season. And first up the Liberal Democrats are having their semi-annual shindig in Bournemouth.

My non-political friends are probably going to think I’m strange for saying this, but I do wish I was down there. If events hadn't conspired against me as they have done this year I probably would have been. True, I’ve always been more of a doer than a debater, and am always pretty passive in group conversations, but I think I could learn quite a bit from the meetings and trainings that happen round a conference. Also people like Will and other Lib Dem bloggers make it seem such a fun social occasion that I feel I am missing out.

There is much for Lib Dems to be positive about at the moment, and that upbeat feeling is coming across in the media, even if the Today programme has latched on to the publication of the Orange Book a couple of weeks too late.

But the most important question of the conference has to be: How did my horse do at the race night?