Ghost of leaders' past

Around 4pm, there was an spontaneous stampede out of  the press room and through the Brighton Centre. "Charles Kennedy is asleep" cried one of my colleagues breathlessly as he burst into the conference hall

No such luck. Kennedy was there, in the front, as sprightly as ever, preparing to speak in the poverty debate. It transpires that the hacks had fallen foul of Chinese whispers - one of the journalists had misheard "Charles Kennedy's about to speak."

But it was not a wasted journey. Kennedy - clearly on form - issued a robust rallying cry for party activists to hit back at critics, be bold and avoid looking too defensive. It was exactly the sort of speech Ming - who yesterday admitted he was "scared stiff" before speeches - would loved to have made himself.

"At the last election we held our heads up high," Kennedy declared, his speech interrupted by regular sustained bursts of applause (in contrast to the speaker who followed).

Friends of Ming like to point out that Kennedy will be welcomed back to front bench "when he decides he is ready" and suggest, leadingly, that his absence speaks for itself. But, as today proved, Charles is not without his uses for the party, although perhaps he reminds Ming a little too much of what he is not.