With the Ottawa conference concluded, attention was switched to negotiating with non-imperial suppliers. British trade was widely dispersed geographically: much of the tension at Ottawa had been generated by the UK's determination not to concede too much to dominion suppliers, and to leave a reserve of bargaining leverage for the later negotiations. The Ottawa conference, which had been carried out in a glare of publicity with widespread press coverage, had provided a forum for political drama. In contrast, the subsequent trade negotiations, at least from the British perspective, were muted affairs, more a matter of mundane administration than of high politics. While at Ottawa Britain had been represented by seven Cabinet Ministers who engaged in concentrated discussions for more than four weeks, the later trade talks were carried out from the British side largely by officials with only occasional participation by the Secretary of the Department of Overseas Trade, John Colville, or, even more rarely by the President of the Board of Trade, Walter Runciman. References were made to Cabinet and Cabinet Committee, but except for the resolution of a clash between domestic agricultural interests and the prospects for good treaties, this were merely for formal approval of the start of the negotiations and of the agreements themselves. There was debate in parliament where vent was given to the unease or scorn of both imperialists and free traders, but generally the negotiations were undertaken quietly, with little publicity and no great political controversy.