A day at the seaside

Two days actually, at this year's Labour Party conference in Bournemouth - not a patch on Manchester last year and most delegates I spoke to are really looking forward to the conference coming back to Manchester next year. I went down to Bournemouth for two days for several reasons. Firstly, it was an opportunity to promote Manchester. I spoke at three fringe meetings, including the Core Cities meeting where I'm shown in the picture alongside Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Salford M.P. Hazel Blears. Secondly it is an opportunity to put policy proposals forward, and thirdly it is an opportunity to talk directly to ministers and their advisers about the things that are most important to Manchester people. In two days I met with dozens of influential people including at least 8 cabinet ministers about what our city needs - all of them short meetings that otherwise could have each taken weeks to set up and would have each involved a trip to London. Two days well spent from a council point of view but didn't see much of the sea !