Are politicians losing their appeal? Of course they are, they have been shedding it for eons. But when children's minister Beverley Hughes gave her keynote address today, one would have thought an auditorium that seats 500 could have been at least half full. Instead, it was more than half empty. A big half.
Those stayaways would have missed her statement on Family Pathfinder programmes, child care accessibility and an affirmation of the government's commitment to ending child poverty by 2020. With Labour so unpopular right now, why she assumes that this government will hang on for another 12 years is known only to her.
She reviewed some success stories such as the Sure Start programme, universal nursery care and extended schools. But there was a feeling: "Where's the meat?". There was no doubting Hughes's determination to identify those children at risk of falling behind and giving them the opportunities that others have. Partnership working would be valuable in overcoming disadvantage, she said, but didn't we all know this?
There was something missing - and it wasn't just the audience.