Analysis By Nick Assinder Political correspondent, BBC News website

No sooner had David Cameron called for his party to let the sun shine than the heavens opened over Bournemouth - and John Redwood stirred up a divisive debate over tax cuts.

Redwood refused to rain on Cameron's parade

So, Mr Cameron's first conference as Tory leader, designed to offer the public a new look and a united party, has already gone horribly wrong?

Actually, it is not quite like that - apart from the deluge that is threatening to turn the south coast resort into a mini-Venice.

Mr Redwood and Mr Cameron are refusing to contradict each other and those who really are looking for a fight over taxation - like Lord Norman Tebbit and backbencher Edward Leigh - may well be playing into the leader's hands by proving he has indeed moved the party on.

The truth is, Mr Cameron does support low taxes - as does his shadow chancellor George Osborne - he simply believes that making it a mantra for the next general election will lose him votes as he claims it has in the past.

Other things like childcare, standards in state schools, the NHS and low mortgage rates should be put ahead of pledges on tax.

Rock the boat

Mr Redwood even got very cross with journalists seeking to explore any possible divisions between his support for tax cuts to produce growth and Mr Cameron's policy of growth leading to tax cuts.

Conference has an optimistic sheen

The media were indulging in "stupid little political games" that would undermine democracy and turn Britain into a "junk tabloid culture", he said.

That only washes to a degree. There are differences here, specifically over which comes first, growth or tax cuts, and when. And they are expressed with differing force by different individuals.

Mr Redwood clearly wants more overt references to tax cuts than Mr Cameron is currently willing to give, but he is not looking to rock the boat too robustly or directly challenge his leader at this point.

Lord Tebbit and others are less worried about openly criticising Mr Cameron, even though they are fully aware that he is quite happy to be attacked by those sections of the party he believes represent the past.

Hug hoodies

Meanwhile there has been speculation that shadow home secretary and failed leadership contender David Davis is offering a tougher approach to law and order than the more liberal Mr Cameron.

But that seems to have been limited to a gentle jibe that Mr Davis supported the leader's so-called "hug a hoodie" policy but might just hug them "a little harder and longer".

Ultimately, of course, these divisions would prove highly damaging if they were being expressed, however obliquely, by members of a party gripped by depression or fear.

The whole aim of this conference is to show exactly the opposite - that the Tories are united and optimistic about the future.

So long as Mr Cameron can sustain that image, and as long as this deliberately policy-light conference plays along, he should end this week without any scars on his back.