If we are going to be a constructive opposition to the government - giving it the benefit of the doubt - then we must have benefits of our own as a result

Lord Rodgers

"That is what the conference is there for, for rank and file members of the party, the activists, to make their views known."

That said it's been a smooth last 12 months for the party, which has remained united under new leader Charles Kennedy, who took up the reins from Paddy Ashdown in August 1999.

But one hot topic likely to be a source of dispute at this year's annual jamboree is the party's seemingly eternal riddle of how close its co-operation with the Labour government should go.

Election is the hinge

The 'Gang of Four' in 1981 - Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams, Roy Jenkins and David Owen

We can adopt our position now and make it plain, but it all very much depends on what Labour does after the election

Lord Rodgers

But voting reform - alongside early entry into the euro - remains the Liberal Democrats' holy grail.

And the man Charles Kennedy defeated to secure the leadership, Simon Hughes, has already said that without a commitment to a referendum on PR in this parliament co-operation with Labour should be considered at an end, until after the election at least.

As well as the differing views on the subject within the party the situation is made even more uncomfortable - from the Liberal Democrat point of view - as Labour is giving very mixed signals on PR.

Opinions inside Labour range from outright hostility through to indifference and from there to talk of a compromise formula involving the Alternative Vote.

AV or not AV?

Lord Jenkins is understood to be willing to accept the non-proportional Alternative Vote as a "staging post" to full PR, while his old comrade from the Gang of Four, Bill Rodgers, rules such a move out.

Roy Jenkins recommended AV-plus - AV-plus, I think, would be acceptable

Lord Rodgers

Speaking to BBC News Online in his home in Highgate north London Lord Rodgers lays down the lines along which he believes the relations between the two left of centre parties should go.

"If after the election Labour shows no question of moving on either [PR or the euro] there will be great disappointment and I think we will begin to distance ourselves from Labour."

The SDP soared in the polls for a time

Delving into the detail of PR he says: "Roy Jenkins recommended AV-plus - AV-plus, I think, would be acceptable.

"But there would be some reluctance because, well it isn't the Single Transferable Vote, it isn't the best form of proportional representation."

He continues: "We can adopt our position now and make it plain, but it all very much depends on what Labour does after the election.

"I think that will be the crucial moment."

So much for Simon Hughes wanting action this side of the polls.

But as Lord Rodgers warms to his theme it seems that the election is not just crucial to relations with Labour as far as PR is concerned, it is the thread by which all future relations between the two parties hang.

Turning to the controversial cabinet committee in which the Liberal Democrats discuss issues of mutual interest with Labour, Lord Rodgers says its future is in the balance while the party waits to see how Labour reacts to a second term, should it get one.

JCC in the balance

The atmosphere in the committee - whose existence angers some traditional Labour MPs like Tony Benn - Lord Rodgers says is "very friendly, it's very casual".

And after focusing on constitutional affairs, where the Liberal Democrat agenda has prospered, the Joint Cabinet Committee has recently dipped into the arena of foreign policy, calling for the UN to beef up its peackeeping role.

But despite this high profile co-operation with Labour Lord Rodgers says: "I don't believe that the Liberal Democrats have got sufficient advantages out of it.

"I think the whole future of that committee should be re-assessed after the election. If Labour wins I still want constructive opposition but I think that the role of that committee needs to be examined with great care."

"We, the Liberal Democrats, need to be clearer about what benefits we get from such a committee. If we are going to be a constructive opposition to the government - giving it the benefit of the doubt - then we must have benefits of our own as a result."

I think he has done as much as he could but obviously the great test of a political leader is what happens in an election

Rodgers on Kennedy

So it would seem timing is crucial, some members of the party are keen to move away from co-operation as soon as Labour confirms there is no PR referendum planned, while Lord Rodgers argues all bets should be off until the nation's votes have been counted in 2001 or 2002.

All roads, it seems, lead to the election.

Low-key election

This is even the case when asked how he rates his new party leader's first year in office. After praising Charles Kennedy generously - especially the surprise win in the Romsey by-election - he just can't help adding one caveat.

"Now I think he has done as much as he could but obviously the great test of a political leader is what happens in an election."

Turning to the wider issue of the party's prospects at the polls, he is predictably upbeat, believing as he does that the party will build on its massive breakthrough last time round.

But not everything in the garden is rosy. As he surveys the political landscape Lord Rodgers says: "Having looked back at elections now since 1945 it is very interesting to see that election fever is so low. I can't remember a time when everything was so relatively quiet.

"It's like 1955 - the assumption being that the result is a foregone conclusion - the party in power is going to win. The country was very prosperous it was the 'you've never had it so good era' and I think the parallel is there today."

Reflecting on the past is something Lord Rodgers has been doing quite a bit of late - being as he says "at the end of his career" - he published his memoirs, Fourth Among Equals, this summer.

And when asked if he ever wonders what he would have been doing if he'd bitten his lip and stayed in the Labour Party - he says he has little doubt he'd still be in the House of Lords, only not as his party's leader there, but in the guise of a humble backbencher.