PR Week Echo Columns

The spectre of Gordon Brown and the likelihood of a snap general election loomed over the Conservative Party conference and overshadowed David Cameron's promise that this week was the start of the "great Conservative fightback". Despite strong speeches by Tory 'big beasts' like Michael Heseltine and William Hague (who gave Brown a good hand-bagging over his recent photo-opportunity with Margaret Thatcher), it was Shadow Chancellor George Osborne's promise of raising the inheritance tax threshold that grabbed the policy headlines. Described by Times' political editor Philip Webster as a "clever yet harmless coup" (1 Oct) it signalled that the Tories would make "tax cuts with a difference" (Daily Telegraph, 1 Oct).

Guest appearances, in person and by videolink, by New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger enlivened proceedings despite glitches in the sound system that gave the conference a "stuttering, soundless start" (The Guardian, 1 Oct). Acting as MC, David Cameron introduced Arnie as "someone who knows about fighting back" (BBC News, 1 Oct) but none of the press gave the Tory leader much hope in the event of an imminent election. Behind in the opinion polls, even the grass roots appeared to think Cameron is "doomed to defeat" according to a Mirror poll of 300 local Tory party chairmen (30 Sept).