The sole Welsh event ahead of either Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak being appointed Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister took place in Cardiff on August 3. The third of 12 hustings taking place in front of party members, it was a chance for both to reiterate their pitches to members, and face questions.
You can see our live coverage from the night, and the protestors who were at the event here. But what did we learn from inside the venue?
There wasn't much of a buzz
There were, I was told, 600 places for members up for grabs at the All Nations Centre and the room was pretty full. Whether it was the trip to Wales, or the summer break, the media section was actually pretty empty and whoever reserved three full rows was being optimistic at best.
But more than that, there just wasn't much of a buzz in the room. There were some moments where the audience did more than polite applause, but on the whole it was fairly flat. Speaking to party figures beforehand there was some optimism that anywhere near the 600 had signed up to attend. And having been at the Welsh party conference in Newtown earlier this year, it was a good sign. Then there were barely any members present so to see the membership engaged and attending an event was a good sign but the lack of excitement they seemed to display to either candidate was a little concerning.
It was policy-light
We'd already seen that neither candidate seemed particularly interested in doing media interviews with us or any of our Welsh colleagues, and I'd hazard a guess now that is because they didn't have much to say about Wales. They both dropped in a few digs at Welsh Labour and Mark Drakeford, which probably got the biggest cheers of the night, but neither really capitalised on being in front of an audience in a different country.
They knew to say that health and education were suffering - lines their Welsh colleagues frequently use - but there was no depth in their answers about either.
The only standout policy announcement I took away was hearing Liz Truss say she'd look again at the Severn Barrage due to the current energy crisis. But even that wasn't a firm commitment, and as we've seen with other energy schemes, like Wylfa, saying you'll look at it is very different to delivering on it. She also said she'd back building the M4 relief road, reigniting the argument over how the UK Government could meddle in such a thing, which is an entirely devolved matter.
There was no love lost for Mark Drakeford
The pair both spoke about Welsh Labour. Ms Truss, who is the favourite to succeed Boris Johnson, dismissed Labour's Mark Drakeford as a "low energy Jeremy Corbyn" and told the party faithful: "I will crack down on his negativity". She spoke a lot about trade deals and Welsh lamb, but Mr Sunak had the edge on talking about Wales.
Ms Truss was specifically asked about her comments that she would ignore Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish First Minister. She said it was different in Wales because independence wasn't the main topic here.
Rishi Sunak said their job was to call out failures in devolution and Sunak said the answer to health and education in Wales is not more devolution and instead promises a "more active presence in Wales" making a point of saying he trusted Welsh Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies and would follow his lead. He said that if money from the UK Government had been "squandered" by the Welsh Government, it should be called out. "If I'm fortunate enough to be PM I want the people of Wales to be able to rely on the public services they deserve."
He says that if public money is being "squandered" and the "children of Wales aren't being taught properly" we need to call that out. Mr Sunak didn't know about the Future Generations Act when he was asked about that and repeated that he didn't agree with Senedd expansion and described the policy of freezing all road schemes as "an act of economic self harm".
Liz Truss loves a Bond theme
Liz Truss did something of a Welsh bingo, mentioning Welsh lamb and Shirley Bassey. She went on to tell members she loves Shirley Bassey, and a Bond theme leading to a few references to people trying to egg her on to belt out a number - something we were spared.
On his card, Mr Sunak drew the lot to attempt to speak Welsh, greeting members with a "noswaith dda" but he tended to stay away from the same cliches.
How they view themselves
Rishi Sunak was asked to describe himself in three words: "Loyal, honest and hard-working" was his answer. Liz Truss' were "determined, loyal and fun".
And how others did
Adding up the list of politicians beforehand it was clear Rishi Sunak has more support in Wales. However, Liz Truss did secure some extra votes thanks to her visit. Brecon and Radnorshire MS James Evans switched allegiance after the hustings from Team Rishi to Team Liz, while his Carmarthen West and South Pembs colleague Sam Kurtz came out for Team Rishi after it too. It might well be why some people there were playing down the poll successes Ms Truss seems to be scoring and saying it's actually a lot closer than it may appear.
The result will be announced on September 5.
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