Matt Smith: Welsh Labour’s two decades in power have left behind a lost generation of state school pupils

This year, Wales produced the lowest A* to C grade GCSE results since 2006, with the GCSE attainment gap between the best and worst performing areas widening.

Henry Hill: Tory and Plaid fury as Jones whips AMs against inquiry into bullying

Also: DUP gear up for enhanced role whilst working on border compromise; and Holyrood committee shows its teeth and plunges SNP policy into chaos.

Peter Franklin: Introducing GovOpposition. How the Tories can reinvent themselves in office. And who’s doing it best.

While the responsibilities of government must be shouldered, there’s no doubting the need for a time of renewal – one as profound as in any period of opposition.

Spring, Renew, Advance, Forward Together…what is behind the flurry of wannabe British Macrons?

The raft of new parties have more in common than somewhat silly names.

Robert Buckland: “We must speak the language of opportunity”. His lecture on Tory revival. Full text.

“The language should be that of giving people their chance to succeed and of being on their side – a “people politics” that many practice locally but which must be scaled up.”

Lewis Baston: Forty years ago, another Tory conference. It saw that famous Hague speech. And the arrival of Reg Prentice…

The former Labour MP’s defection, and the later split within that party, has not yet found in a parallel in our own turbulent times.

Lord Ashcroft’s conference diary: Of capitalism, Corbyn, my new book…and my past life as a taxi driver

Political leaders always say that the election they are fighting is the most important for a generation, but the next time Britain goes to the polls it will probably be true.

Iain Dale: Feel for the Grenfell judge. Nothing he could say or do would appease those who claim to speak for the victims.

Plus: I miss the Liberal Democrat conference. I miss the beards. I miss the sandals. I miss being asked for a discount on a 50p postcard…

Our CCHQ election audit: the rusty machine, part one. Why the operation that succeeded in 2015 failed in 2017.

One senior official put it to me starkly: “We should ask a question of the team – are you ready to fight another election in two years? If the answer is yes, then it’s a lie.”

Iain Dale: Rennard, Lord of the Lib Dem campaign machine

Plus: Nigel Farage steps into my shoes; life after gangs; and the absurd Remainer response to the Government’s Brexit papers.

Iain Dale: I never thought I’d compare an American President to a North Korean dictator. But here I go.

Plus: UKIP goes nuts. And: Chapman’s tweets might lead you to believe that he’s taken some sort of personality-changing drug.

The last thing we need is the police or the courts trying to define political truth

Alan Sugar’s idea of criminalising political lies is deeply unwise.

Iain Dale: My advice to my latest successor as Davis’s Chief of Staff

Plus: As I bask by a sun-illuminated swimming pool on holiday in Spain, I reflect on how the Spanish respond if you try to fiddle your water supply…

Iain Dale: Shame on the doctors and lobbies that support the extinction of young human lives. (And, yes: I’m anti-abortion.)

Plus: I was a bit hard on Javid. I have a bit of time for Cable. On May’s modesty and decency. And: ttthhhwwwaaaccckkk!…there goes the ball, straight down the fairway.

Nadhim Zahawi: While Corbyn plays to the gallery, we Conservatives have work to do

The Queen’s Speech provides concrete facts to grip on to and analyse, and a clear indicator of how the Government intends to lead our country.