- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday October 3 2000 16.09 BST
In Channel 4's pre-conference documentary Just William... and Ffion it was intriguing to see a selection of star Guardian writers asking William Hague to gain their votes. Did the editing leave out congratulations for becoming Conservative leader against the initial odds? Why didn't they comment on the fact that few estimable political journalists anticipated Tory success in European, local or London assembly elections?
It is true that everyone misses parts of the conference and its fringes. Reporters may have been on the train when Judith Edwards, tax barrister and prospective candidate for Liverpool Riverside, spoke in the effective discussion on women's choices - for a future generation, in the workplace and for families. She is the Conservative equivalent to Labour's Patricia Scotland and Helena Kennedy. Perhaps a 16-year-old young white star from Yorkshire attracts more attention than a grown-up black woman from Lancashire.
At the successful meeting on "blue and black in Britain" some journalists came for Steven Norris's major contribution. I wish more had heard and reported what home affairs spokesman John Bercow contributed, as well as the fair, well-received critique by the Guardian's Gary Younge.
Peter Bottomley is a Conservative MP and former minister
