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I attended a fringe meeting last night held by Iain Duncan Smith's Commission on Social Justice, hoping to hear a speech by IDS himself.

But the audience was then told that IDS couldn't come because his wife Betsy had been undergoing chemotherapy yesterday - for cancer that was diagnosed in June.

Indeed IDS may not be able to attend the conference at all this year as, quite understandably, he is looking after his wife.

I went along to the meeting because IDS has had a remarkable renaissance as a politician after his resignation as Conservative leader in 2003 - with his ground-breaking work on inner-city poverty and social justice.

He hasn't sat on the front bench since 2003, but has been hugely influential on Conservative policy, and I expect him to get a job in a Cameron government.

Like everyone else at this conference, and throughout politics, I wish Betsy Duncan Smith a speedy recovery.