• Listening to many of the speeches both on the platform and on the fringe at this conference, you could be forgiven for forgetting that the LibDems are in government. Their whole attitude indicates an oppositionalist attitude which may make them feel better, but won’t go down well with the electorate which knows full well that they have been part and parcel of every government decision.

  • I didn’t go to the LibDem conference last year and I had wondered if this conference would be any different to the others I had been to in recent years. In a sense, I am rather relieved that it isn’t. It’s still the usual mix of the weird and wonderful. I know I have said this before, but the LibDems really do have more than their fair share of very odd looking supporters. I saw a woman yesterday, who was about 5’ 1, weighed about 18 stone and worse shorts and a T shirt which failed to cover her amply proportioned midriff. I am afraid you could not help but stare. And what about the man whose whole body seems to be covered in tattoos. And… No, I must stop. But it’s why these conferences are a fascinating study in social anthropology. At least, I think that’s what they are.

  • The constant attacks on the rich at this conference are a little odd and totally populist. It’s all you hear. Vince Cable wants to curb bankers’ pay. Danny Alexander is recruiting 2,000 more tax inspectors to make sure the rich pay their tax. All well and good, and I am sure it will go down well with the readers of the Daily Mirror. But have we heard a peep about how the LibDems want to create economic growth or create jobs? Well, if we have, I must have missed it. At the next election people will cast their votes based on who they think is best equipped to run the economy – not who can utter the most extreme insults to the rich. They forget that most people aspire to be rich.

  • Let Them Eat Carbon is a most unlikely book to find on sale at the LibDem conference, but there it was on the LibDem Image stand. I was rather pleased, especially as I published it, but it’s hardly a book Chris Huhne would approve of. I was even more pleased t discover that they had sold several copies of it. Just as it is possible to find the odd LibDem Eurosceptic, it seems there are a few LibDem climate change sceptics too.

  • Talking of Chris Huhne, he addressed the Total Politics Nuclear Power v Sustainability fringe last night. I can’t say I agreed with all that he said, but if ever there is a cabinet minister on top of his brief, Chris Huhne is it. Rather against my instincts I found him enormously impressive. Conservative friends in the cabinet also think highly of him. Initially they had been very suspicious of his reputation as a bit of a slippery customer, but what they tell me now is that he is the one LibDem they feel they can really trust. If he promises something he delivers on it.

  • Vince Cable has every right to give his views on private sector pay. He has every right to criticise the bonuses bankers receive. But he can’t pretend that he is actually going to do anything about it, because we all know he isn’t. Unless he’s going to introduce some sort of 1970s pay restraint type law (and we all know how effective that was) all he can do is play to the gallery and bluster. Having worked in the private sector, you’d think Vince would know that the people who can do something about excessive pay and bonuses are shareholders. Perhaps he ought to look at giving them more powers of oversight. One thing I would do is legislate to restrict the number of non executive directorships any one individual can have. Some people have 8, 10 or a dozen. Sorry, but there is no way a non executive director with a dozen of them can do his or her job properly and monitor exactly what is going on. There are too many quid pro quo non execs too – people who sit on each other’s boards. That’s where Mr Cable should be directing his fire.

Sarah Teather has been wandering round the conference with a face like thunder. As well she might. Her off colour jokes about the Chancellor, George Osborne, went down like a lead balloon among the delegates here, but what should worry her is the reaction of Nick Clegg, who, I am reliably informed went red with rage when he heard what had happened. It wasn’t just Teather who incurred his wrath, though. The LibDem leader was furious at his colleagues who insulted other coalition colleagues, and indeed, fellow LibDems. There’s an inquest into what happened and whether next year the opening conference rally might be ditched in favour of something less risqué. And as for Sarah Teather, she’s in the happy position of knowing she is unsackable. Why? Because she’s a woman, and there aren’t many of those to the dozen in the ranks of LibDem ministers.

Presenting a three hour programme on an O/B is a challenge even if you’ve been doing them for years. Yesterday’s LBC show was my first from the conference. It went really well (I think!) but I have rarely felt so tired as I did afterwards. So tired that I have to admit I didn’t wake up until 10 o’clock this morning, something I haven’t done in years. Tonight’s show includes an hour long phone in with London LibDem mayoral candidate Brian Paddick from 8-9. Paddick is an interesting character who has something to prove, not just to the LibDems but himself. He says he has learnt a lot from the rather awful campaign he ran last time. I intend to find out what that is, because at the moment, I’m none too clear.

There is a very different air about this conference compared to LibDem conferences of years gone by. It is infested by lobbyists and campaigning groups. Oh, and the BBC. Oh, and newspaper commentators who two years ago wouldn’t have given the LibDems the time of day. Did I mention the BBC? I reckon they must have the best part of 150 people here. Mind you, for an organisation that employs 52 journalists on Radio 1’s Newsbeat programme, I don’t know why I should be surprised. I mean, what the ** do they do all day?

I love interviewing Ming Campbell. He such a pleasure to interview. Some people go through the motions. Ming really engages with you, especially when he knows you’re going to give him a bit of time. He hates the two minute interview just as much as I do. Last night I asked him about Nick Clegg’s performance as leader. I followed it up by saying: “Were you comfortable in the job as leader?” He gave such an honest reply that I almost felt guilty for asking the question. Almost.

Last night’s Newsnight was a frustrating watch. Jeremy Paxman got 80 LibDems together, ostensibly so he could shout at them. What on earth was the point? Quite what we learned from the segment, I’m still not sure. Yet people on Twitter seemed to think it was marvellous. “Paxman in blistering form” said one. Really? I thought it was dreadful. Being combative is one thing. Being downright rude and insulting is another. I am a huge admirer of Paxman, but I do wonder sometimes if he is encouraged to play up to the caricature by the programme’s editors.