Steerpike

At last conference season over and Parliament will return on Monday. The Tories finished their annual jamboree yesterday after a slogan-filled four day bonanza of levelling up a built back better Net Zero Global Britain. And along with the warm white wine which usually accompanies such platitudinous speeches came the traditional collection of cranks and protestors outside the conference centre. So from the picket line to the buffet line, here is Mr Steerpike's guide to Tory conference 2021 in pictures...

So that’s it. The end. Tory conference wraps up today with Boris Johnson delivering a policy-light leader’s speech to close the four day Conservative jamboree in Manchester. Surrounded by campaign placards like a traditional electoral rally, Johnson made an hour long speech peppered with talk of ‘building back better.’ And in traditional Boris style, there were, of course, jokes - ones which fortunately landed better than some of the more laboured ones he’s been making at evening receptions. Below are five of the PM’s best moments from his address to the Tory faithful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Vj0kdN08dg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn7TgiJHMPc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqdaZAG2l68 https://www.youtube.com/watch?

It’s the final night here at Conservative party conference. The booze is flowing and events are coming thick and fast. But the one reception which was guaranteed to pack out tonight was the LGBT+ Conservatives night with Carrie Johnson – the only event at which the Prime Minister’s spouse was scheduled to speak. Watched on by her husband standing at the back, Mrs Johnson delivered an unambiguously pro-LGBT+ rights speech in front of a packed audience of eager hacks and passionate activists. The intervention by the former CCHQ director of communications received widespread interest, in light of the government’s stance on issues such as trans rights and gay conversion therapy. You can watch the full speech below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

The world’s oldest democratic party has had a few problems with technology in recent years. Famously it was the 2018 Tory conference which saw a security breach where the official party app allowed anyone to access the private phone numbers of members of the Cabinet – or in the case of Boris Johnson change his profile picture to that of a pig. Once again, tech issues are plaguing Tory conference, with three of the world’s most popular apps – Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – all being offline since 4:30 p.m. today. The last of these is the favoured platform for disloyal backbenchers and scheming hacks to conspire mischievously to make life harder for long-suffering Tory whips.

Oh dear. With the Tories in town, the Labour left were hoping to make a strong impression in Manchester when they organised a protest outside the venue this afternoon. A large crowd, led by the Corbynite stalwarts Richard Burgon and Barry Gardiner, slowly made its way down Oxford Road toward the conference venue, with the usual gaggle of trade union delegates, activists and Communist party members making up the numbers. Things didn’t exactly go to plan though, with the protest pelted with rain giving the whole escapade a rather bedraggled look. Things went even less well for Richard Burgon, who even appeared to be struggling at protesting.

The Conservative party conference begins tomorrow in Manchester. Coming at a time of fuel shortages, tax rises and post-Covid drift, many disgruntled activists will be hoping to see some sign of dissent from backbenchers uncomfortable at the government's direction of travel. Yet however bad those divides are, they're surely nothing compared to those on show at Labour's conference in Brighton just a few days ago. Nowhere was that better evidenced than at The World Transformed (TWT) festival, the socialist shindig to rival Labour's 'official' event, held just a stone's throw away from the main hall.

It can be a difficult task picking out the most incompetent minister in the Scottish government. There's Sturgeon's deputy John Swinney, the man who faced two votes of confidence in seven months. There's Shona Robison, resurrected in May having been forced to resign in 2018 amid near-universal criticism of her management of the health brief. And of course there's Transport minister Michael Matheson, a man with no discernible achievements to his name, now knee-deep in the ferries scandal. But of all the SNP's top talent surely no man has blundered more regularly than Humza Yousaf.

Oh dear. Less than 24 hours after David Lammy (of all people) claimed Labour should not get involved in identity politics, his leader has plunged straight back into the culture wars.   Asked on ITV’s Good Morning Britain who was his favourite Bond actor, Sir Keir passed up the chance to win back, say, badly-needed Scottish voters by plumping for Sean Connery, or appealing to Denis Healey fans within Labour by choosing the eyebrow-wiggling Roger Moore. Instead Starmer replied: 'I don’t have a favourite Bond but I do think it is time for a female Bond,' inducing a collective Twitter meltdown.