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At quarter to seven this morning councillor Peter Downes was standing outside the media entrance to the conference hall, desperately trying to shelter from the rain while he waited to do another media interview.

"I never expected so much attention" he said. "I'm not against the coalition, I just feel very strongly about this issue".

The former head teacher from Huntingdon had been catapulted into the limelight because of his motion criticising Academies and Free Schools. It was the first - and possibly only - open sign at this conference that the Liberal Democrats don't agree with everything that the government's doing.

Academies are starting to spring up all over the eastern region and the first five Free Schools have also been given the go ahead. Ministers say taking them away from local authority control will drive up standards.

Many Liberal Democrats disagree.

"People need to be aware of the significance of schools opting out of local authority control" he says. "It may appear to be financially attractive but there are all kinds of implications not least for those in the area who don't become academies or free schools because they will lose money."

"Simply because we are in coalition does not mean that we have to agree on every bit of policy and in this case the coalition's policies are totally incompatible with all liberal educational values."

Mr Downes was well received by the delegates. The biggest laugh of the morning came when he said that Education Secretary Michael Gove was wrong on several fronts: "I will name just five".

And his motion was overwhelmingly passed, which sends a message to the leadership.

However, it won't change anything. Academies and Free Schools will continue to get the go ahead but Mr Downes feels that if parents are now more aware of the changes and ask a few more questions, then his fifteen minutes of fame will have been worth it.

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