So that's it for party conferences 2013. A month of late nights, folding chairs, cheap white wine and intense debate is over for another year. As the politicians, activists, lobbyists, journalists and assorted hangers on head wearily for home, it's time to ask what it all means. It was clear that we are already well into election mode, as for the first time ever, we have a set date for the next general election, now a mere 19 months away. National media coverage inevitably reflects this perspective: the big stories were Labour's perceived swing to the left, hardening conservative policies on welfare and immigration, Miliband's consolidation of his leadership (again) and the Boris and Dave rapprochement (again). In these grand narratives, local government barely gets a word in edgeways. But, while the set piece local government speeches may have been fairly peripheral, there was much in the headline policy announcements that could have a significant impact on how councils operate. One could argue that, while no-one quite said so, the local government remit was at the heart of the policy debate.
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