Martha Kearney's week

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By Martha Kearney Presenter, BBC Radio 4's World at One

I was sitting having a tea in the conference hotel in Brighton, tapping compulsively into my Crackberry when a woman at the same table passed me a note:

"Was the mood like this at the Conservative party conference before the 1997 election?" I told her that as far as I could remember it had been.

Could Ed Balls prove a winner in the "beauty contest"?

It was certainly far emptier than previous years, with far fewer MPs in attendance.

Everyone from the cabinet down acknowledged what a difficult fight the party is facing.

The Sun's defection dealt a blow by killing the momentum achieved after Gordon Brown's speech. A senior No 10 aide acknowledged that they should have tried to seize the initiative back immediately.

There was no plotting against Gordon Brown, though the treasurer of the left-wing Campaign Group did call him a "dead man walking" and said there would be moves against him by Christmas if Labour's position didn't improve.

One cabinet minister agreed in private but there is no sign of a serious challenger before the election. Nor are there "men in grey suits" poised to tell Brown he should go.

In fact, one senior politician told me he was scared to wear his favourite grey suit earlier in the year in case it was misinterpreted.

It would be wrong, though, to think that the issue of leadership is dead. In fact you could view the whole conference as a beauty contest of candidates poised to compete should Labour lose the election.

'Rock star'

There was Ed Balls speaking without notes a la Cameron, Harriet Harman in full Sun-bashing mode, and both Miliband brothers in highly praised speeches.

Though the star turn had to be Peter Mandelson, who was greeted like a rock star going through the lobbies afterwards.

Some though were critical of his delivery: "Michael Heseltine meets Kenneth Williams" was one verdict.

You can detect that some ministers are already turning their minds to life after a Labour defeat. A Swedish politician told one: "Opposition is like playing air guitar: fun for six weeks, but pretty boring after that".

The Conservatives have been playing air guitar for twelve years. So will they get their own Fender Stratocasters? We may have a better idea after their conference in Manchester. Do tune in.