The arrival of autumn means shorter evenings, falling leaves and – last but not least – the return of politics. Today's podcast takes the temperature at the start of this new political season – the last, of course, before the general election.
Allegra and I look forward to Labour's conference in Brighton – but we rather doubt many Labour party members are doing the same.
We're joined by the Guardian's chief leader writer, Julian Glover, who tells us that Gordon Brown is now in the sort of bind where disparate problems start seeming to be linked.
Today's news about the resignation from the government of minister Shriti Vadera, for instance, may have nothing to do with the ongoing travails of the attorney general, Lady Scotland, but ahead of the conference it may all help to create an atmosphere of chaos.
We also look back, with the help of Michael White, on the week that was for the Liberal Democrats. Nick Cohen, of the Observer, is in the pod with us this week, and he tells us that he despairs at the party's failure to channel the anti-establishment anger of the electorate in favour of pursuing a bland tecnocratic approach. But both Nick and Julian think the left-leaning Liberal activists now face a real dilemma because most of their voters seem prefer the Conservatives over Labour.
