Arriving in York, I was reminded of what a wonderful city this is. To watch the beautiful Ouse meandering amidst some wonderful old buildings, is enough to raise anyone’s spirits.

On Friday evening, at the historic Mason’s Arms, it was great to see old friends and enjoy marvellous food.

Today, I did a tour of the exhibition hall and bought my customary LGBT+ badge, signed up for Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform and supported Liberal Democrat Friends of Hong Kong.

The “Driving Forward – Road to Access” debate was a reminder that, though we applaud walking, cycling and wheels, driving is part of life which needs support especially for those on low incomes – a point made well by Olly Glover MP.

The debate on rejecting Labour’s plans to slash trial by jury was a reminder of why we are Liberal Democrats. The speakers made clear that juries have great public support and cutting their use by half will not solve the courts backlog. Ample alternative strategies were outlined.

I squeezed into the Green Liberal Democrat’s fringe meeting. Pippa Heylings and Tim Farron were incredibly passionate about the human reasons for fighting climate change. Pippa spoke movingly about her background in international development and Hull, where the local economy is now powered considerably by Siemens wind energy production. You could see her eyes welling up as she spoke about both scenarios, a condition shared by your correspondent here.

I made it into the Leader’s Q&A. When asked which one law he would change if it could be done without opposition, Ed said, to warm applause, ‘introduce proportional representation’.

This reminded me of when Prime Minister Harold Wilson spoke near Chatham Docks and said “I want to build more naval ships – and why do I say that?”, to which a heckler replied “Because you’re in Chatham”.

So, saying that you want proportional representation at a LibDem conference is an automatic applause line but, to be fair to Ed, I’m sure he means it earnestly and it is was very welcome to hear.

An unexpected treat this afternoon was seeing Simon Hughes pop up in the debate on universities. I haven’t seen him speaking at conference for a long time. He was as passionate and articulate as ever. A real tonic.

I am looking forward the Liberal Democrats for Electoral Reform fringe meeting later, when a commission on voting reform will be top of the agenda.

* Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings.