Quite naturally, the mood in the hall at the Ukip conference in Doncaster is far more upbeat than anything Labour could muster. This is an insurgent party on the brink of getting its own MP and that is spooking the Conservatives no end. So the party with a realistic chance of taking power next May seems depressed, while this party is full of beans.
A series of speeches from policy spokespeople was intended to show that Ukip doesn’t just have one face representing it. This year’s conference is intended to show that Nigel Farage’s party really has grown up and has grown far beyond just his leadership. So those policy spokespeople had far more to announce and far more excitement about the role than most of the Labour frontbench, although of course if you are the party with a realistic chance of governing from May 2015, you may be a little more cautious and a little more downbeat about what that governing will involve.
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