Morning after the night before

Conservative party conference, Blackpool
Last night's Forest/Free Society reception was a great success. Difficult to estimate numbers but the room was full - both inside and outside on the smoker-friendly balcony - so there must have been at least 200 people. Better event (I think) than Bournemouth although we probably had a higher profile at the Labour conference where we had two days to sell the event.

Last night's event was certainly the livelier of the two - more of a party than a reception. Great atmosphere and a very supportive crowd who cheered all the speakers and stayed long after the event had officially finished. We abandoned the more sophisticated, laidback jazz of Bournemouth and really went for it, pianist Matt Black pounding out a string of uptempo rock classics. ('Bat Out Of Hell' went down particularly well.)

This time we had three speakers - Roger Helmer MEP, rebel publican Hamish Howitt, and former MSP Brian Monteith (above, with Yours Truly on the left). All three spoke really well and provoked loud applause. On a less serious note, we then challenged guests to beat the 80 bottles of champagne consumed by guests at the Forest/Free Society event in Bournemouth - which I think they did. Thankfully I haven't seen the bill (yet).