Below, Matt shares his thoughts on Tony Blair's address to the party faithful and at the bottom Victoria Araj and Sam Wheeler who went to the Tories and Lib Dems share their views.

So he takes to the stage to address the Labour gathering for the last time as their leader.

Tony Blair seemed reflective and his speech was, in places, quite moving.

The prime minister listed Labour's achievements over the last nine nine years and proclaimed "this is a changed country!"

His passionate delivery was exactly what the party faithful were looking for - one MEP declaring it "inspirational".

"From the moment he opened his mouth," remarked the onlooker I was chatting to, "he had me." I have to agree.

His speech proved that after nine years in power, and with 12 conference speeches already under his belt, he still has the knack.

No Labour leader's party speech would be complete without an attack on the Tories and Mr Blair was in no mood to disappoint.

There were a few moist eyes when Blair stepped away from the podium

He referred to the "chaos" which Labour inherited in 1997 and criticised the Conservative leader for his decision to adopt nuclear power as a last resort - "it isn't a multiple choice quiz question, Mr Cameron". The conference hall roared with laughter.

After Gordon Brown's declaration of peace with Mr Blair in his speech on Monday, the Labour leader returned the favour, dubbing the Chancellor "a remarkable man" and a "remarkable servant to his country".

But Blair's speech wasn't just about what the party had already achieved.

Emotional farewell

He said there was a lot more for Labour to do. Emphasizing the importance of adopting new policies to meet the changing need of Britain.

Nearly 56 minutes after Mr Blair's first standing ovation, party members in the GMEX hall in Manchester again leapt to their feet.

"He left everyone believing he'd tried to make Britain better"

Banners were raised declaring support, praise was shouted, and there were more than a few moist eyes when Mr Blair stepped away from the podium for the last time.

It was an emotional farewell for a man who has dominated British politics for almost a decade, and deservedly so.

I don't agree with a lot of Tony Blair's policies or decisions but I have always respected him as an incredibly gifted public speaker.

His charm left the whole arena, myself included, believing that he has genuinely tried to make Britain a better place.

Has the Blair charisma persuaded me to vote Labour? No, but not for lack of trying.

Tony Blair's speech was like an episode of This is Your Life. The only thing that seemed lacking was the big red book. As Blair stepped onto the podium I thought are these people for real?

Is this the same party conspiring to get rid of this very man?

Blair kicked off with thanks, starting with NHS staff. I thought that perhaps he should talk less and pay nurses more as a thank you.

He then thanked Manchester asking, "what about Manchester?"

Well, 20,000 people marched against him in the city last Saturday, driven to protest by so many of his government's policies.

The war in Iraq, curbs on civil liberties, and student top-up fees etc. Tony Blair may be thanking Manchester but based on what we saw last weekend, the feelings don't seem mutual.

Failed legacy?

He went on to press that he was red, not blue, and he supported historical core Labour values, which he had not changed, just progressed.

Could trying to solve the crisis in the Middle East be another failure of Blair's legacy?

On asylum, Blair boasted that "applications are dealt with faster and removals greater."

However, according to agencies like Amnesty International, for example, 99% of 'fast track' claims at Harmondsworth detention centre are refused.

Of those 56 countries on the "fast track" list, most are underdeveloped, conflict-ridden African countries.

And Blair then has the cheek to say that "we must show that an African life is worth as much as a Western one".

Perhaps one way to demonstrate this equality would be a fairer asylum policy?

Finally, he stated that before he leaves office he wants to bring peace to the Middle East. I wonder how will Blair's peace efforts will differ from Clinton's failed attempts?

Could this be another failure on his legacy looming?

A young man comes running onto the stage to the tune of a Take That song and receives a standing ovation from his beloved supporters.

Around the country televisions and radios are tuned to what they know is the end of an era and the beginning of something new.

For a few brief moments it was like we were back in 1997.

Mr Blair showed exactly why we loved him then, and why people around the world struggle to understand why we don't love him now.

With a power and an intensity that the Tories after twelve years can't match and could never defeat, he showed how David Cameron, for all his talk of being "the heir to Blair" will never be anything but a pale imitation.

With a joke about Cherie that only he could ever have gotten away with, he gave credit where it was due. To the people, to his party, and to his chancellor.

While I might have booed that London was hosting the Olympics (the North-South divide conquers all) it all helped to stress how far we've come in these few years.

"His farewell carried a passion that a Hollywood director would die for"

Parts of the speech were harder. Here was Tony Blair warning the Labour party of the danger it would face if it turned its back on the lessons of New Labour.

As I watched the speech I thought of not what had been, but of what might have been.

Spectacular years

The protesters outside were not coming forward with a myriad of social, political and economic indictments like those that chased Margaret Thatcher from power, but with just one shout. Iraq.

That's the one event will forever be a cloud over 10 spectacular years.

The problem is that Blair's grand error came about because he abandoned his own lessons.

Tony won't you stay another day?

He was optimistic beyond all reason. He tried to enforce from above what he thought the world should be like instead of seeing how it is, and critically, he did not trust the judgement of the people.

There is a certain grim irony, that what brought down the architect of New Labour, was the one event where he followed the mode of operation of Old Labour.

So, as the great man bids farewell with an intensity and a passion that any director in Hollywood would die for, one more of those Take That songs starts playing in my head.