Blackpool Forever!

A fearful furore appears to have erupted on the Tory blogosphere over a decision by the party's board to return to Blackpool for its 2007 conference.

My days of attending party conferences are thankfully over, but I have to say I have a bit of a soft spot for what the Daily Telegraph's diarist calls the "tatty old Lancashire resort."

On my first visit there, in 1995, I stayed in a pub called The Empress. The room was a bit basic, but it stayed open till about 3am in the morning and served an excellent pint of Thwaites Bitter. Who could want more?

Mind you, not everyone felt the same. I remember one fellow hack,who is now a political editor on a national newspaper, being rather put out to find an incontinence mattress on the bed in his B&B.

I do agree with the general thrust of opinion that the Winter Gardens is an appalling venue, and it absolutely the case that however much money they spend on it, it will continue to smell of stale beer and tobacco, forever conjuring up in my mind the lost political era of "smoke-filled rooms" and "beer and sandwiches at No 10."

But the Imperial Hotel, by contrast, is a fantastic venue - the "No 10 bar" there is easily the best drinking hole in any of the regular conference venues and I have many happy memories of long story-getting evenings spent there.

I have far worse party conference memories of Brighton, which invariably became a complete security nightmare at conference time due to the need to seal-off the main road in front of the conference centre.

For some reason, I also seemed to get worse hangovers in Brighton as well. But that's another story.

Well done England

I must admit I had my doubts about Steve McLaren. He came over as a bit of a yes-man during the Eriksson era and I don't really think his "achievements" in the domestic game quite merited such a promotion, although he was very good at Derby during the Jim Smith era.

Furthermore, I think the decision to appoint a new manager before, rather than after the World Cup risked all sorts of problems in the event of a poor performance by Sven's Men.

So last night's 4-0 win against Greece was very refreshing to see, in particular the new sense of dynamism in the midfield area and the way Terry and Ferdinand were encouraged to bring the ball out of defence.

With Rooney yet to return from suspension, and the prospect of a fit-again Owen in the team, it is suddenly exciting to be an England fan again.

John Reid: The backlash begins...

Every Labour politician who has ever been spoken about as a potential alternative leader to Gordon Brown has eventually suffered a media backlash, and it is already clear that John Reid will be no exception.

Today's piece by Stephen Glover in the Daily Mail is fairly typical of the kind of thing we can expect as the prospect of a bloody battle over the corpse of New Labour grows ever closer.

"One wonders why Mr Blair's assumed heir apparent Gordon Brown, who is on paternity leave, did not think it right to return to London to restore order. Perhaps he has taken the view that, far from improving his chances of becoming the next Prime Minister, Dr Reid has, in fact, dramatically reduced them.

"For the spectacle of this sinister old Marxist seizing control is enough to make most of us feel like taking to the hills. It should also persuade Labour MPs that this rather scary figure is unlikely ever to work his way into the affections of Middle England."

The change of mood was also reflected in a piece on Political Betting.com which last Friday was reporting a sharp tightening of Reid's leadership odds in the wake of his performance over the terror raids.

Today, however, Mike Smithson was posing the question whether some of Reid's past indiscretions might catch up with him, including an occasion on which he called the pictured Jeremy Paxman a West London Wanker.

My own view on the matter has not altered since I penned last week's Saturday Column. In an ideal world, Reid would be the first choice of very few Labour MPs or party members and I do not currently expect him to beat Mr Brown in a straight contest.

But if the party's poll ratings were to plummet and Reid's public approval ratings consistently topped those of the Chancellor, they might, repeat might just have to bite the bullet and elect him.

Update: I somehow neglected to include this excellent post from Iain Dale depicting Roy Hattersley's likely reaction if Reid becomes Prime Minister.

The Lardy one apparently told Scottish radio listeners that he would SHOOT himself if the Home Sec got the job, though sadly no link to the original story appears to exist.