AS Liverpool returns to normal after the Labour Party conference, attention switches this weekend to Manchester where the Tory faithful gather for their annual get-together.
As the economy flatlines, will the Tories heed the mounting calls for policies to bring jobs and growth? Will David Cameron bring forward infrastructure plans for road and rail to get our economy moving again? Will the Tories back a European-wide Robin Hood tax on financial transactions?

So the Labour Party's 2011 conference in Liverpool came to a close today following a successful week for the party and for the city.

But before red flags stopped waving there was an unexpected, unscheduled last minute addition.

Lynnie Hinnigan (nee Williams) today joined a growing list of Liverpool politicos to defect to the Labour party.

Labour now has 63 councillors out of the 90 available seats on Liverpool council.

It is conceivable that the party could have more than 70 councillors after next May.

I'm going to suggest something rather odd here - that the Labour party should not actually try that hard to win any extra seats next year.

All good things come to an end, and at lunchtime today the delegates at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool began making their way to Lime Street and from there, home.

All in all , the conference has been a success.

Day four of the Labour Party's conference in Liverpool included a packed programme of events which may well have been the most important day so far.

It included a speech from Police Federation chairman Paul McKeever who, in his first ever party political conference, slammed the Tory-Lib Dem government for slashing police numbers which he said was a coalition which was "playing fast and loose" with public safety and nothing short of "madness".

Strong words which resulted in a standing ovation from delegates at the conference.

Day four of the Labour Party's conference in Liverpool included a packed programme of events which may well have been the most important day so far.

It included a speech from Police Federation chairman Paul McKeever who, in his first ever party political conference, slammed the Tory-Lib Dem government for slashing police numbers which he said was a coalition which was "playing fast and loose" with public safety and nothing short of "madness".

Strong words which resulted in a standing ovation from delegates at the conference.

Ed Miliband did all right.

That seems to be the consensus on his speech to the Labour Party Conference yesterday.

It was, of course, billed as the biggest moment of his political career, make or break, etc, but that is going a bit OTT.

So today was Ed Miliband's big day.

The day when he took to the stage to stake his claim on Number 10.

And did he? Well ... we'll see.

AS TEXTBOOK speeches by leaders at party conferences go, this was it.

Ed Miliband didn't really promise anything, he didn't offer up any new policies (apart from the widely-trailed tuition fees cut and bank bonus tax), but crucially he didn't slip up.

Three-and-a-half years from a general election, his job was to start to map out the vision the Labour party has for the country.

Angela Eagle's makeover seems to the chatter of the Labour party conference.

"The party is seing Angela in a new light," a source tells me.

Above is a picture of Angela post makeover.

The Wallasey MP is quoted in this month's Total Politics talking about her new wardrobe:

"It's better to be looked over than overlooked," she says, quoting Mae West. "And if you are looked over it's better to be well dressed... That little bit at the end is my creation."



This includes a fresh wardrobe - "as you can see with my brand new suit today". She gestures to her outfit. "What can I say? I enjoy wearing my new clothes. It's nice to look nice."

It's actually a rather illuminating interview with 'the lesser spotted Eagle' as the magazine describes her, read it HERE.