There will, sadly, be more days like these. The Tories' attempt to turn the election into a referendum on the euro has failed miserably. The overwhelming majority, roughly two-thirds, are against the euro, but it is a priority for only a small minority and most of them are going to vote Tory anyway.

So in the waiting crowds, big or small one would expect a frisson of excitement, prompted if not by his politics then at least by his proximity. It is rare that most people get to be in the physical presence of the powerful. And with a thumping majority in the Commons and an even bigger lead in the polls, Tony Blair is nothing if not powerful.

"That's how he comes across on the telly, doesn't he?" says Sally in Stafford town centre, who is thinking of voting Conservative. "A bit of a cheeky monkey. His baby face doesn't help much either, come to think of it."

In Sandton the nibbles are impressive but the news is bleak. "Empowerment in the corporate sector has reached a new low," says the author of a report for the conference. "Deal flow is down, market performance of black-controlled companies is in crisis and global and economic prospects offer little relief." Sakumzi Macozoma wins black empowerment businessman of the year. His job title, deputy chairman of the Standard Bank's investment division, is the latest in a series of reinventions. Born to a black working-class family in Port Elizabeth, he has been a student activist, a prisoner on Robben Island, an African National Congress official, an MP and now, at only 44, a successful businessman. The man who marched at the head of the student movement now glides along marble floors in the bank's plush downtown offices.