Party conference time is when British politics goes berserk. Leaders soar and crash in a morass of cliches. Polls go mad and cataclysm always delivers the best copy.
Thus, back in 1981, Margaret Thatcher was at her Blackpool conference, two years into office. Brixton was rioting, inflation was 11% and the Tories were polling at 23%. The Labour opposition was faring as badly, also at 23%. Meanwhile, a third force, the Social Democratic party (SDP), in alliance with the Liberals, was running at more than 50% and dominating the news.
