Ed Miliband was a member of the last Government from May 2006 to May 2010, serving under both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

But this didn't stop him telling delegates at Labour's Manchester conference that the two former Prime Ministers got a lot of key policies wrong.

Here are some of Labour's biggest mistakes - according to its new leader:

* Failing to regulate banking

"You saw the worst financial crisis in a generation, and I understand your anger that Labour hadn't changed the old ways in the City which said deregulation was the answer".

* Failing to control immigration

"You wanted your concerns about the impact of immigration on communities to be heard, and I understand your frustration that we didn't seem to be on your side."

The Birmingham Post will be out in force at the Conservative Party Conference and at other fringe events across the city.

Paul Dale, Jonathan Walker, Neil Elkes, Jane Tyler, local political blogger PragueTory and Post Editor Alun Thorne, will all be providing exclusive content from the main event at the ICC and from numerous fringe events across the city.

My guess is that it's goodbye to David Miliband, who may go down in Labour folklore as one of the greatest leaders the party never had.

His tetchy comment to Harriet Harman as brother Ed deliverd his conference speech - telling her off for clapping during a key passage - suggests he's not 100 per cent behind the new regime.

Miliband senior took umbrage at Ms Harman for applauding as his brother said the Iraq War had been a mistake.

He told her: "You voted for it, why are you clapping?"

The West Midlands could have at least three MPs in Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet.

High profile MPs Liam Byrne (Lab Hodge Hill), the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Pat McFadden (Lab Wolverhampton South East) have both put their names forward.

And I learn that Stoke South MP Robert Flello is also standing as a candidate.

Mr Flello is a bit of an underdog, as doesn't currently have a shadow ministerial role and isn't as well known as some of his competitors.

But he'll be hoping to win the backing of colleagues after Mr Miliband said it was time for a fresh generation to step forward and lead Labour.

Ed Miliband says he's the man to change his party and put it back in touch with its members.

There's just one catch - he wasn't actually the leader Labour members chose.

He received 37,980 first preferences compared with 55,905 for David Miliband.

And in the fourth round of counting - once other candidates were knocked out and second (or third) preferences allocated - Miliband junior had 55,992 votes, while his brother David had 66,814.

But Ed still won it, thanks to the backing of members of affiliated bodies, mostly trade unions.

Back in Tony Blair's day it would have gone without saying, but Labour MP Liam Byrne has urged party members to remember that "we have to be Britain's party of aspiration" as he battles for a place in the Shadow Cabinet.

Mr Byrne, the MP for Birmingham Hodge Hill, is one of the hopefuls campaigning for one of 19 places in Labour's Shadow Cabinet. There are at least 26 candidates.

Margaret Thatcher won support on council estates by understanding that working class people aspire to better jobs, better homes and better cars just like the middle classes.

Liberal Democrats have been trying their hand at virtual archery at a stand outside the conference hall.

A trade organisation for Britain's video games industry set up a Nintendo Wii and were recording results on a leaderboard.

Top of the table was Birmingham MP John Hemming (Lib Dem Yardley), who scored the most points.

Perhaps this isn't surprising as Mr Hemming, a self-made millionaire, made his fortune in computing and could therefore be described as a professional geek.

He was briefly knocked off his perch by West Midlands MEP Liz Lynne (Lib Dem), who scored more points - but the ever-competitive Mr Hemming returned to the stand and tried again until he beat her.

Glum faces at Birmingham City Council's slimmed-down press office, where those who have survived the cuts took the full force of fallout from the Sale of the Century fiasco.
One can only imagine the reaction upon hearing that Tory council leader Mike Whitby had once again ventured off-piste, this time by giving an interview to the Reuters news agency in which he appeared to suggest that the city's prized assets including the NEC, ICC and Symphony Hall would be up for sale if oil-rich Arab states could come up with a suitable cash sum.

Nick Clegg has revealed to journalists that he's had dog's mess shoved through the letterbox of his family home by locals apparently angry at his decision to go into coalition with the Conservatives.

He's also apparently been abused on the streets of his Sheffield constituency.

The Deputy Prime Minister always appears cheerful, but I get the feeling he is a little upset, or at least surprised, by the scale of opposition to the coalition.

He insists that the "vitriol", as he calls it, comes from the Labour Party.

Think you've had enough of "deficit porn"? Get ready for another dose, as the dire effects of debt are to be the theme of this week's Liberal Democrat conference.

Party leader Nick Clegg is to focus on Labour's failure to get the deficit under control in his speech to the party faithful (taking place on Monday, right at the start of the conference).

The message is that the cuts already imposed by the Lib Dem/Conservative coalition, and those still to come in next month's comprehensive spending review are essential and, basically, all Labour's fault.

Think you've had enough of "deficit porn"? Get ready for another dose, as the dire effects of debt are to be the theme of this week's Liberal Democrat conference.

Party leader Nick Clegg is to focus on Labour's failure to get the deficit under control in his speech to the party faithful (taking place on Monday, right at the start of the conference).

The message is that the cuts already imposed by the Lib Dem/Conservative coalition, and those still to come in next month's comprehensive spending review are essential and, basically, all Labour's fault.

David Miliband has decided to round off his campaign for the Labour leadership with a rally in Birmingham on September 20.

The rally, at "a central Birmingham venue", will be his last big event before voting closes. Labour members have to ensure their votes are received by September 22, which means putting them in the post on September 21 at the latest.

But another election is also taking place - the ballot for a place in Labour's shadow cabinet.
Hopefuls such as former Europe Minister Chris Bryant and former Industry Minister Barry Gardiner have been busy sending e-mails and leaflets to activists.

Mr Gardiner boasts that he was once the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Forestry, although he fails to mention that he resigned from this important post as part of a failed attempt by Labour rebels to force the Prime Minister concerned - Gordon Brown - to step aside.

Sutton Coldfield MP Andrew Mitchell must be fairly chuffed after becoming the only member of the coalition government to speak at the TUC annual conference in Manchester.

Plans to send Nick Clegg or David Cameron to talk to the brothers were abandoned at an early stage.

But Mr Mitchell (Con Sutton Coldfield) took part in a fringe event, and apparently received a warm welcome.

That's the great thing about being Secretary of State for International Development. He's one of the few cabinet ministers who doesn't have to cut anything.

The Prime Minister has released a video in the run-up to the Pope's visit to the UK beginning Thursday.

I attended a press conference this morning with Chris Patten, the Prime Minister's personal representative, and Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster. Lord Patten said the Pope's visit to Cofton Park in Birmingham on Sunday September 19 will be the "proudest moment" of his stay in Britain.

Archbishop Nichols said the Pope would pray for David Cameron following the death last week of Mr Cameron's father, Ian.

Here is the Prime Minister's message:

Black Country MP Tom Watson (Lab West Bromwich East) has delivered a remarkable speech condemning parts of the media.

He was speaking in the House of Commons as MPs debate a motion - later passed without a vote - to refer the phone hacking affair to the House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges.

Here is a section of Mr Watson's speech:

"The truth is that we all of us in this House in our own way are scared of the Rebekah Brooks of this world.

"If you fear passing this resolution, think of this; it's almost laughable. Here we sit in parliament, the central institution of our sacred democracy, between us, some of the most powerful people in the land, and we are scared of the powers she wields without a jot of responsibility or accountability.

Those of you fascinated by interesting statistics might like to try this for size.
The £330 million that Birmingham City Council expects to have to cut from its budgets over the next four years as a result of the public spending squeeze doesn't even come close to the £590 million it will have to pay for its grand new civic library in Centenary Square.
Granted, the bill for the library will be repaid over 60 years. But the true cost of the project, taking into account cash loans and maintenance payments, has certainly saddled the council with a financial headache that it could do without.
Quite correctly, council leaders are focusing on the difficult decisions that must be made with regards to finding £330 million in a very short period and are openly admitting that thousands of jobs may disappear along with harsh cuts to services.
With the benefit of hindsight, would council leader Mike Whitby have been quite so keen on building the library if he had an inkling of the unprecedented cuts in government funding heading Birmingham's way. Knowing Whitby, the answer is a resounding yes.