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was followed and questioned by reporters and, when his denial was publicised, it became clear that Healey had made a mistake. It changed the tone of the last week. The Healey campaign alleged that Benn supporters were undemocratic and thuggish. The Benn campaign retorted that Healey was running a smear campaign based on incorrect evidence. Solidarity was beginning to meet with success by some general secretaries using their power to organise block votes behind Healey. Both sides, in entirely different ways, were beginning to feel their strength. The politicisation of the unions and the stimulation of CLP activity had awakened politicisation on the right. The opening evening of the Brighton conference presented the sight of Labour’s first electoral college sitting down to vote. It did so in a packed conference hall and in the view of a large television audience. For the first time in the party’s history, Labour MPs were drawn out of the Palace of Westminster to participate in the election of a deputy party leader. MPs occupied a central block of the conference hall. In the front of the hall there were the trade unions, governing 40 per cent of the votes, and the constituency Labour parties holding 30 per cent of the vote. The press had made an obsessive analysis of the prospects of the three candidates. Particular attention had been paid to the trade unions on how delegates should cast their votes. The Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) provided the clearest example of the vagaries of union procedure. Whilst a majority of regions voted for Healey, the union’s Executive Committee decided to recommend a vote for Tony Benn on the grounds that a majority of the largest regions had expressed a preference for him. Despite this recommendation, the union’s delegation at conference decided to vote for John Silkin in the first ballot and then, after a second consultation among themselves, opted for Tony Benn. The National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) had, by contrast, consulted its members individually and had committed itself to Healey. At the start of the conference, it seemed that Healey would win because of the NUPE decision. This was despite its London organiser, Jeremy Corbyn, being a campaigner for Benn.