Party season is over, did we have a good time?

The conferences are done, but what should researchers make of them?

As you read this, the circus of party conference season will be drawing to its end. The grand spectacle of carefully-written speeches, after-hours drinks, off-the-record briefings, and bleary eyed mornings will be done for another year.

Political types and journalists love the rigmarole and the madness. But for most people, a careful look back when it is all done is as useful as following every twist and turn as it unfolds.