There was no sign of Chuka Umunna at the Lib Dem conference

THERE are a couple of blasts from the past in the group photo by the sea.

You may spot John Bryant and Chris Naylor who way back when were cabinet members in the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition that ran Camden during a four-year breather from Labour in the 2000s.

They are doing Lib Dem things in other parts of the country these days but the loyalty of these local foot soldiers – including the leader Tom Simon, who seems to have been around forever without growing old – is at least admirable.

The party melted away from power in Camden when national heads formed a coalition with David Cameron in the Downing Street rose garden.

But you don’t see much of Danny Alexander and David Laws any more, nor Nick Clegg for that matter.

A couple of familiar faces from the past come back for a conference group photo in Bournemouth

In contrast, the Camden group soldiers on – sometimes looking puzzled at the front bench strategies or admitting privately that Sir Ed Davey will need more than a row of by-election props to excite the nation; a cardboard cannon and a Rishi Sunak clock were displayed in the exhibition hall like museum pieces.

The last time this lot met in Bournemouth the party was showing off new faces like they were marquee signings.
Remember Chuka Umunna? There was also Sam Gyimah from the Conservatives and, of course, Luciana Berger who came via Change UK but has since returned to Labour.

Locally, the clipboard carriers in the past had another so-called star name thrust on them when Maajid Nawaz became the parliamentary candidate in 2015.

He’s not putting too many leaflets through doors now.

Instead, it’s Tom and John and Chris and a lot more who have been doing it for decades now who are keeping the flame alive.

In that context, maybe that’s why they are ultimately happy enough to agree to the stubbornly Daddish persona of their national leader.