Well, here I am at the Centre for Cities and Marketing Birmingham welcome reception for the Conservative Party Autumn Conference 2012.
Sir Albert Bore officially welcomed Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, secretary of State for Communities and Local Government at the Round Room in Birmingham's Museum and Art Gallery. It was a jovial welcome, with Sir Albert in a rarely-worn blue tie saying that Pickles was the subject of much debate at the recent Labour Conference (more on this in a later blog) and waxing lyrical on Brum's industrial heritage (a more forward looking speech however, would have suited better). As for Pickles himself, he called the city the UK's second city a "powerhouse" and received cheers from the room (again more later). And the words 'mansion tax' were hardly uttered. For now, the 200 or so guests are keen to chat and quaff the vino...