Chuka’s speech to the Labour conference hall today was notably understated. While Ed Balls strayed into leader’s speech territory, it’s no coincidence that the ambitious shadow business secretary kept things low-key. The lobby saw straight through him:

hmm. neatly judged from Umunna: just interesting enough to keep fanbase ticking over, not interesting enough to be seen as overambitious

— gabyhinsliff (@gabyhinsliff) October 1, 2012

Much more interesting than Chuka’s speech was his little chat with the Channel 4 team last night. Putting on his caring, emotional face, Chuka admitted:

“The people who work for me, as far as I’m concerned, are underpaid, they work 24/7 for the Labour party and because they are deemed to be an expense they are not paid what they deserve for serving my community or serving us nationally as a party. I think it is outrageous. I’m ashamed of what we pay the people who work for us.”

That hasn’t stopped him from advertising for unpaid “volunteers” not once, not twice, but three times. His two-faced hypocrisy knows no bounds. Which Chuka will we see tomorrow?