Steve Bell's Liberal Democrat conference diary

Bournemouth is by far the loveliest of the conference venues, and it’s by the seaside, so I set off to find a comfy seat and draw the view. Unfortunately somebody who appears to be having a schizoid episode has got there before me and is talking animatedly to himself. Upon closer inspection I realise that this is no more than a common manifestation at any party conference: someone talking on a hands-free phone Photograph: Steve Bell/Guardian

I find somewhere less comfortable and draw the view. Even on a dull day such as this the view of the sandy cliffs stretching round to Poole and Studland is quite wonderful Photograph: Steve Bell/Guardian

My sketchbook isn’t wide enough to include the distant view of the Purbeck Hills, but there it is Photograph: Steve Bell/Guardian

I move inside the sepulchral gloom of the conference hall to witness Norman Baker in full flow on Lib Dem transport policy. The hall, which normally can seat several thousand people, has been cunningly shrunk with the use of the latest black hole technology to make it look like a few hundred Lib Dems can fill it up Photograph: Steve Bell/Guardian

Norman Baker MP is an admirably obsessive champion of such projects as the British TGV and the revived Uckfield Lewes rail link Photograph: Steve Bell/Guardian

The Lib Dem crowd look on hungrily, amusedly, seriously, concentratedly, plumply, scrawnily. You pick an adjective, for all human life is here Photograph: Steve Bell/Guardian

Simon Hughes, the retiring party president, presents the Lib Dem awards (like the Oscars but with elderly Lib Dems instead of film stars), and gives a long and wistful speech in which he confesses that during his tenure membership figures have actually gone down. Then, just as I think his speech is ending the house lights are raised, he moves away from the podium, raises his arms and launches into an impassioned plea for everyone to keep the flame of Liberal Democracy alive. I am almost moved. Photograph: Steve Bell/Guardian