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Think Welsh Questions in the House of Commons. Or if you've ever been to an Eisteddfod, think that slot in the Literary Tent just before the hottest event of the afternoon: the face off between the bards.

Made the link? They're both events where people pour in and grab a seat, not because they're remotely interested in hearing what's going on but because they want to be there to hear what'll be going on next.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats at the party conference in Liverpool will know what I'm talking about. First came their "presentation", then came Nick Clegg taking questions from his party. People wanted to be there to hear some answers so in they came, early, to nab a seat.

What did they get? According to party sources what they got was a presentation that "set out the exciting year to come in Wales, highlight the strong record of the Assembly group in holding the failing Labour-Plaid government to account and emphasise the excellent record of Welsh Liberal Democrat led councils providing services to 1.5 million people - half the population of Wales".

What they did get was a stab at info-tainment, a cross between a cabaret (avoid the lectern, hold big shiny mic at an angle, try to work out what to do with your other hand, be a pro when the portaprompt seizes up leaving you making up the next few lines) and a list of the failures of the Labour Plaid coalition in Cardiff Bay (scrapped a promise to deliver Welsh language newspaper, ditched a promise to give Welsh official status, missed their target to halve child poverty by 2010). With each failure on the Lib Dem list the words "scrapped", "ditched" and "missed target" were stamped, as if by magic, in fact by powerpoint, on the screen behind them.

Then, somewhere in the middle of the full frontal assault on Labour and on Plaid came the one line that was an attack, of sorts, on the Tories. It came from Kirsty Williams. "As we approach next year's Welsh general election, I believe we can win on all fronts .. .against Plaid Cymru in Ceredigion ... against Labour in South Wales ... and yes, against the Tories. We know that at the last election we gave the Tories a foothold in Montgomeryshire that they did not merit." She wanted their celebrations to come to "an abrupt end". In the hall, filling fast now, they weren't sure whether they ought to clap or not. Was there more? Would there be clear yellow water in this presentation from Wales that they could cheer? There wasn't. They did clap, tentatively. Perhaps, suggested a colleague, they'd seen the tweets suggesting that Lembit Opik fancies throwing his hat into the ring again.

Then it was Nick Clegg's turn. The first question was from Linda Jack: "I always said I could trust you with my life and with my party. I know I can still trust you with my life. Can I still trust you with my party?"

She could, of course, came the response. And though most of the questions were a variation on the same theme - are you still one of us, can you make sure our voice is being heard, why do we get the kicking while they, our coalition partners, get the credit for our politices - the defence, each time, won over the vast majority of the audience.

This part of Liverpool is still enveloped in the warm world of a honeymoon period.

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