There is a surprising public perception that there wouldn't be much difference between a Conservative or Labour government, but there couldn't be fewer similarities between the supporters of both movements and the two party conferences.

It would be hard to imagine union activists sipping on cocktails from the Knightsbridge luxury store Harvey Nichols stand at the Labour party conference in Brighton, but in Manchester thirsty Conservatives can enjoy an HN gin ricky.

They can also buy soft, pastel cashmere jumpers from Marks & Spencer or get a suit fitted in the market place. Cufflinks and chalices await those who visit the elite Carlton Club stall, along with limited edition portraits of icon Margaret Thatcher.

At Labour, union stands tend to dominate -- reflecting their influence over the movement and the party's reliance on their funding. The closest you can get to a Harvey Nichols cocktail by the main hall is a pint of tepid bitter from the hatch.

Beans on jacket potatoes, stewed tea and bacon buns with butter and brown sauce on sale in Brighton; fairtrade white chocolate muffins, herbal tea and organic, homemade sandwiches in Manchester.

And it doesn't stop there. Outside the Labour party conference, radical socialists march past crying "Revolution!", pro-Palestinian supporters picket. In Manchester, the anti-European UK Independence Party rally against the European Union and a few protest against hunting.

Of course there is some overlap but, at grassroots level, these two parties appeal to two opposite walks of British life.

While winning the middle ground will be crucial, the result of next year's election will also rest on how successful both parties are at mobilising these very, very different breeds of voters.

But outside the Labour party conference in Brighton, not everyone feels that way.

Politics in Britain is far from top of the agenda.

The recession and expenses scandal haven't helped. But there is also a perception that whoever runs the country is just a distant manager who never changes anything for the better.

"Every party that gets in -- they all go the same way," says John Lewis, a 42-year-old oil industry worker. "We need someone with some common sense."

Voter apathy is a big problem and will likely play some part in deciding the outcome of next year's election. Some don't want to vote as a protest, others have just lost faith in the system.

"I used to be really pro-political but I don't even watch the news anymore," said Peter Duke, a 29-year-old university administration manager. "For the first time in my life, I don't want to vote."

But it is also clear that the big political parties are struggling to explain what sets them apart.

Sara Richards, a 40-year-old mum, said she doesn't "feel that we've got any real different options".

Politicians have clearly got their work cut out to get the vote out.

Forget for a moment all the hyperbole surrounding British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's first use of the word "cut" in reference to Labour's public spending plans.

Anyone who read the Budget this year is well aware that Labour was planning a fiscal tightening to bring record high government debt into line and that would require both tax hikes and spending cuts.

What was striking about Brown's speech in Liverpool on Tuesday to the trade unions that help bankroll his party was its reception.

It was a hard sell to tell public sector union members that cuts are on the way, especially when they have threatened industrial action over the issue.

But the timing of it was strange -- given Labour's big opinion poll lag behind the Conservatives -- and the response to what should have been a rallying speech ahead of a tough election run-in was very muted.

Brown really needs these most hardcore of Labour activists to be onside if he is to stand a chance of seeing off the challenge of the Conservatives.

He piled on the passion, bellowing out lines across the hall and attacking the Conservatives, dubbed by one union leader as the "enemy" earlier this week.

And yes, the some of the big bosses of the biggest Labour-affiliated unions seemed convinced it hit the spot.

But the rank and file were not impressed.

The patches of applause there were during his address felt polite, not thunderous, and delegates streaming out of the hall afterwards appeared resigned to the fact that the election is already lost.

If Brown can't get these ardent left-wingers fired up, how is he going to convince anyone else?

Those opinion polls might just be spot on.

"They're going to come after us like rabid dogs," said Brian Caton, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association said -- dubbing the Conservatives "the enemy".

Activists may be disenchanted by a Labour government that they believe has pursued a pro-business agenda and failed to roll back anti-union legislation, but that is suddenly starting to look a whole lot better than a Conservative administration.

"God help us," said John Thompson, President of UCATT, the construction workers' union. "We'll have never seen anything like it if this mob do get in."

And a fear of more restrictive regulation and big public spending cuts is not encouraging the movement to offer an olive branch to the centre-right Conservatives, who are well ahead of Labour in opinion polls with an election due by mid-2010.

At a fringe meeting at the Trades Union Congress conference, GMB union chief Paul Kenny called Conservative leader David Cameron, pictured, a "clown".

Even the most powerful of the union bosses are not afraid to admit that a Conservative government looks likely.

"You'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to see that Labour is in a great deal of trouble," said Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Britain's biggest union Unite.

But no matter how bleak the future looks for the unions, they are not yet resigned to a Conservative future and are rolling up their sleeves for the fight.

"We've always fought for everything we've got," said Kenny. "A poor Labour government is a hell of a lot better than a poor Tory (Conservative) government".

"They're going to come after us like rabid dogs," said Brian Caton, general secretary of the Prison Officers' Association said -- dubbing the Conservatives "the enemy".

Activists may be disenchanted by a Labour government that they believe has pursued a pro-business agenda and failed to roll back anti-union legislation, but that is suddenly starting
to look a whole lot better than a Conservative administration.

"God help us," said John Thompson, President of UCATT, the construction workers' union. "We'll have never seen anything like it if this mob do get in."

And a fear of more restrictive regulation and big public spending cuts is not encouraging the movement to offer an olive branch to the centre-right Conservatives, who are well ahead of
Labour in opinion polls with an election due by mid-2010.

At a fringe meeting at the Trades Union Congress conference, GMB union chief Paul Kenny called Conservative leader David Cameron a "clown".

Even the most powerful of the union bosses are not afraid to admit that a Conservative government looks likely.

"You'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to see that Labour is in a great deal of trouble," said Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Britain's biggest union Unite.

But no matter how bleak the future looks for the unions, they are not yet resigned to a Conservative future and are rolling up their sleeves for the fight.

"We've always fought for everything we've got," said Kenny. "A poor Labour government is a hell of a lot better than a poor Tory (Conservative) government".

But the decision to come to the rolling hills of the Cotswolds sheds light on one of the obstacles standing between Cameron and the keys to No. 10 Downing Street.

Britain's third main party -- the Liberal Democrats.

The LibDems won the parliamentary seat of Cheltenham in the 2005 election with a majority of about 2,000 over the Conservative candidate.

It is the kind of seat the Tories will want to win next year if they are going to get a decent majority over Gordon Brown's Labour and be able to push through their agenda.

They will be hoping that coming to Cheltenham sends a strong message to voters here and tips the balance when the election comes -- probably in May or June 2010.

While much of the media battle being waged is purely between Gordon Brown's Labour and the Conservatives right now, both parties know that when the big day comes they will have to do battle on two fronts.

And convincing Liberal Democrat voters to switch may hold the key to what the make up of parliament looks like.

The increasingly popular -- and confident -- opposition Conservatives have gained ground by blaming Prime Minister Gordon Brown for turning the public purse into a public hearse.

But there are a few reasons to suspect that when finance minister Alistair Darling steps up to the dispatch box tomorrow, he will deliver another blockbuster life-support package.

Yes, there are inklings of a recovery out there -- some experts say we have reached the bottom -- but Labour has to make sure this recession is long gone before it can hope to win an election.

And it only has until mid-2010 to wait before that day of reckoning must come.

Brown might be willing to chance his arm with some big spending to reassure the public that job losses will be kept to a minimum and that Labour cares more about ordinary peoples' lives in the here and now than it does about the budget deficit and government debt markets.

If this is the worst economic crisis for decades, then there is no easy way out of it and the best thing to do is to take whatever action is necessary to bring it to an end and worry about the consequences later.

Respected think tank the National Institute of Economic and Social Research has called for a temporary 30 billion pound stimulus aimed at stuffing employers and employees coffers with
cash.

They say the level of government debt is nowhere near where it was at the end of the Second World War and so there is no real panic about getting it back under control eventually. Yes, it may mean higher taxes and less public spending in the future, but that might be a fair price to pay to avoid mass unemployment and social unrest.

All the indications are that Labour won't risk the ire of experts and opposition alike with another big stimulus, but the truth is they won't get a second chance to reduce the severity of the downturn.

Besides all that, something interesting was happening in Westminster on Tuesday.

Rather than hounding the Prime Minister's office with questions about the Budget, Britain's press pack were jumping all over an emergency announcement on how rules governing the much-maligned MPs expenses system might be changed.

It wouldn't be the first time that Brown has put up a smoke screen before delivering a knockout, headline-grabbing blow.

Bumper budgets are a tried and tested vote winner ... but that might also be just what the economy needs.