Voting reform - the only issue in town

Forget all the hype about radical new agendas and the Grimond legacy, this year's Liberal Democrat conference is all about one thing - voting reform.

There are any number of debates about health, local government and the economy and there has even been a token discussion on the issue of proportional representation.

But what the delegates here have been denied is an informed debate about the one thing that has dominated their agenda for the past couple of decades.

Liberal Democrat peer Lord Jenkins has completed his inquiry into alternative systems of voting and he has come to a conclusion.

It appears everybody already knows that he has recommended a "middle way" between the existing constituency-based system and full proportional representation.

For what it's worth, he appears to have suggested that the "alternative vote plus" system should be adopted.

Neither fish nor fowl

But his report is not being published until the end of October, well after the political party conference season has ended.

So, conveniently for their leaders, neither the Liberal Democrats nor Labour will have a chance of tearing it apart.

The Lib Dems will hate it because it isn't full PR, which is the system most likely to give them real power in the House of Commons.

And Labour delegates will hate it because most of them - including Tony Blair - think PR is a worse system for general elections than the one that just delivered them an historic victory.

Mr Blair is desperate to put the entire issue on hold until after the next election when he can judge Labour's real support in the country and then decide whether voting reform will be in his party's interests or not.

Leadership on the line?

But for Paddy Ashdown, the issue is more critical. If he blows it then he blows his leadership.

Charles Kennedy is waiting in the wings and if Paddy fails to deliver an acceptable package then he will undoubtedly challenge for the leadership.

And he probably has only one challenge in him. Newcomers like Lembit Opik are coming up fast on the inside rail and Charlie, young as he is, may yet find himself overtaken by a new generation.

So it is no good Paddy saying the issue of voting reform is for another day or that, so long as it includes "proportionality", it will fit his party's demands.

This is a political life and death issue and, outside the conference chamber, is the only issue delegates want to talk about.

And Paddy knows it is the single issue that will decice whether he survives as leader.