Iain Dale: Were it not for the fringe at each year’s Conservative conference, what would be the point of coming?

Plus: How should you respond when someone comes up and tells you that they love what you do?

Iain Dale: The Prime Minister. He gets knocked down. But he gets up again.

Plus: Will the 21 rebels get the whip back? And: The Tories need younger members, and so does everyone else.

The local elections revisited: an analysis of results in the East of England

Yet more triumphs for clusters of independents. Essex Man may have lost enthusiasm for the Conservative Party but not for Conservative principles.

Judy Terry: Health and Wellbeing Boards are failing to hold the NHS to account

Funds go to leasing expensive cars for managers – while more specialist care for our courageous servicemen and women should be made available.

Rupert Barnes: Let’s do more to celebrate our historic counties

Remember where we are; remember what has come down to us. Our unique heritage is there to be opened up.

Judy Terry: Councillors must challenge the poor performance of mental health services

Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is officially the worst mental health provider in the country. Proper scrutiny and accountability is needed.

Lorne Green: New technology is helping to keep Norfolk safe

Drones play a big part in locating missing persons and tracking down criminals. Automated Number Plate Recognition technology has been extended.

Judy Terry: In the hot weather, fires can cause terrible destruction to our natural habitat

A shockingly large number are caused by arsonists. There should be an award events for those who help to combat this menace.

Andrew Potter: Attractive new homes can also be energy efficient

We offer social housing with traditional design and also saving our tenants around £500 a year on fuel bills. The Government should back this approach.

Norfolk County Council has shown how boarding school can transform the prospects for vulnerable children

Yet the efforts of other local authorities to provide such opportunities have been derisory. Ministers give speeches but the Government has failed to act.

Judy Terry: Labour’s plan to revive Regional Development Agencies is flawed

Little was achieved beyond inter-authority squabbling over priorities and endless consultants’ reports. The Local Enterprise Partnerships are much better.

Matthew Scott: The police are plugging a gap in mental healthcare provision – but we can’t do so forever

There will always be an element of policing that involves helping those in distress or crisis. But our officers are no substitute for proper NHS services.

Cliff Jordan: Why Norfolk needs a Tory majority

The infrastructure needs to come first – then the housing.

Next week’s council elections: The Conservative / UKIP battlegrounds

Last time UKIP denied the Conservatives outright victories in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, East Sussex. Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire.

Iain Dale: Ignore the conventional wisdom. So far, Johnson has hardly put a foot wrong.

Plus: The coming local elections. My predictions – Liberal Democrats up, Conservatives up, UKIP down, Labour down – and maybe Corbyn out later this year.