The Maddest (And Scariest) Moments From The Tory Conference

Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman all made headlines during the Tory Party conference in Manchester this week

The Conservative Party conference may have just drawn to a close, but some of the moments from the four-day event will stay with us forever.

Hundreds of delegates descended on Manchester this week to swap ideas about Conservative values and – ultimately – to help raise money for the party.

And the annual get-together has certainly made a lot of headlines over just a few days – just not necessarily for the right reasons.

So here’s a look at some of the most unexpected, jaw-dropping or overlooked moments from the jam-packed affair...

1. Tory chair Greg Hands slammed the Labour leader for “flip flopping” over his policies, and offered to sell pairs of “Sir Keir Starmer flip flops for just £16.99”.

'Get your own pair of Sir Keir Starmer flip flops for just £16.99'

Greg Hands criticises the Labour leader for breaking leadership pledges and 'flip flopping'. He then asks 'who is the real Sir Keir Starmer?'

https://t.co/xItZsH7tea

📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/tKNBlc9U9Q
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 1, 2023

2. Liz Truss’s hardline speech drew in a huge crowd a year after her policies crashed the economy, triggering her resignation.

Liz Truss speech challenge.

You have to see how long you can last before you lose all hope and tumble into despair.

I lasted 19 seconds.#LizTrussSpeechChallenge https://t.co/e898kTh8xT
— Otto English (@Otto_English) October 2, 2023

3. Claire Coutinho started a beef with Labour – the energy secretary claimed the opposition were considering taxing meat, even though this is not a Labour policy.

Sky's Sophy Ridge reads out part of the Energy Secretary's speech where she says, 'there's no wonder Labour seem so relaxed about taxing meat...' - and asks: "You didn't write that, did you? They're not proposing a meat tax?"#PoliticsHub 👉 https://t.co/GlTNastFii

📺 Sky 501 pic.twitter.com/u1uMX0kUPd
— Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (@SkyPoliticsHub) October 2, 2023

4. Priti Patel heaped praise on GB News one week after Ofcom launched another investigation into the broadcaster.

Priti Patel was unleashed last night in Manchester where she effusively praised Nigel Farage and lauded GB News, which she called “defenders of free speech” thanking its staff for “absolutely everything you do.”

Surely she meant promoters of far right ideology and misogyny! pic.twitter.com/1m4TxcqsJi
— Liz Webster (@LizWebsterSBF) October 2, 2023

5. Nigel Farage and Priti Patel were seen singing and dancing together to Frank Sinatra’s I Love You Baby.

Priti X Farage. What a combo. pic.twitter.com/uEPaWrVMf2
— Emily Hewertson 🇬🇧 (@emilyhewertson) October 2, 2023

6. A huge crowd formed at the book signing for ex-PM Theresa May’s new exposé, Abuse of Power.

The queue for Theresa May’s book signing at Conservative Party Conference - is it longer than the one for Truss yesterday?

Speaking to people in the queue, one said they admired how ‘personable’ she was as PM and another said she ran a ‘steady ship’ @ITVNewsPolitics pic.twitter.com/kGxT98GCG3
— Lucy McDaid (@LucyJMcDaid) October 3, 2023

7. Lee Anderson asked why anyone would want to go to Bradford when asked about HS2. He said: “Anyone here from Bradford? Would you want to get there quicker?”

Laughter at Conservative conference when Lee Anderson is asked about cancelling HS2 and the impact it will have on local services, such as those to Bradford and replies: "Anyone here from Bradford? Would you want to get there quicker?" #CPC23 pic.twitter.com/rLfTeI6qWU
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) October 3, 2023

8. Michael Gove claimed Brexit did actually deliver on the £350m a week for the NHS.

Michael Gove’s ludicrous claims at #CPC2023

“We are World Leaders in Reforming Farming” 🤡🤡🤡

“Brexit has been delivered, and membership of the world’s fast growing trade block secured.” 😡

“And there is now more than £350m extra a week for our NHS … Promise made, promise… pic.twitter.com/CKjvBQdFTA
— Liz Webster (@LizWebsterSBF) October 3, 2023

9. Jacob Rees-Mogg openly supported hormone-injected beef from Australia.

Jacob Rees Mogg: "I want cheaper food. I want hormone injected beef from Australia. I've eaten beef in Australia, it's delicious. There's nothing wrong with it."
— Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) October 2, 2023

10. After one Tory MP claimed that asylum seekers may pretend to be gay to get through the system, Rees-Mogg suggested some may self-harm.

"Some people self-harm to get asylum."

Tory MP @Jacob_Rees_Mogg responds to @KayBurley after being asked if he could see a scenario where people could pretend to be gay in order to seek refuge in the UK.https://t.co/UyZUj3K3qy

📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/TzdxSQOKdr
— Sky News (@SkyNews) October 3, 2023

11. Transport secretary Mark Harper was accused of spouting right-wing conspiracy theories after claiming local councils want to control how often you go to the shops.

Mark Harper transport secretary has just said Tories will stop the “ misuse of 15 minute cities “ …
“what is sinister is the idea of local councils deciding how often you can go to the shops “. It is sinister. It’s also not remotely true… #cpc23 pic.twitter.com/ZrXOJNwNZX
— emily m (@maitlis) October 2, 2023

12. Rishi Sunak did not rule out former UKIP leader and former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage’s return to the Tory Party.

13. Farage later said he wouldn’t join or even vote for the Tories, saying it represented “nothing I believe in”.

'As it stands right now? God no'

Nigel Farage tells @AnushkaAsthana he wouldn't join the Conservative Party after the PM suggested the ex-Ukip leader would be allowed if he wanted to https://t.co/LWvPHnsv6n pic.twitter.com/SSAcaaeTr1
— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) October 3, 2023

14. Suella Braverman doubled down on her divisive rhetoric, saying there would be a “hurricane” of migrants coming to the UK.

“The wind of change that carried my own parents across the globe in the 20th Century was a mere gust compared to the hurricane that is coming”.

Suella Braverman delivers her Conservative Party Conference speech highlighting “mass migration” in the UK.#TalkTV pic.twitter.com/2LEXWfwzIY
— TalkTV (@TalkTV) October 3, 2023

15. On the Human Rights Act, the home secretary said: “I’m surprised they didn’t call it the criminal rights act.”

Braverman says that the Human Rights Act should be called the "Criminal Rights Act" and that being smeared as a racist didn't work against Churchill and it won't work against her. To raptuous applause. ~AA pic.twitter.com/medqbcgJiL
— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) October 3, 2023

16. Tory candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, claimed some Jews are “frightened” of current mayor Sadiq Khan. She later refused to apologise, claiming she had been misunderstood.

Here’s Susan Hall speaking at CFI event suggesting that Jewish people in London are ‘frightened’ by @SadiqKhan.

‘One of the most important things that we can do when I become Mayor is make [London] safer for everyone, but particularly for Jewish communities.’

Video by @dhaim 👇 pic.twitter.com/RSv0MiTqXB
— Josh Gafson (@JoshGafson1) October 2, 2023

17. The London chair of the Conservative party, Andrew Boff, was kicked out of Suella Braverman’s speech, after complaining she was delivering a “homophobic rant”.

Heckler at Suella Braverman’s speech has just been kicked out…#CPC2023 pic.twitter.com/mFBijMnDnW
— Paul McNamara (@PGMcNamara) October 3, 2023

18. Suella Braverman was pictured standing on a guide dog’s tail.

Suella Braverman treating this dog the way she treats refugees. Horrid! pic.twitter.com/M36ShkYwNA
— Jack Dart (@JackWDart) October 3, 2023

19. The Conservatives released a new poster which claims they are “kicking woke ideology out of science”.

Excuse me, what? pic.twitter.com/4s3TsbyOrj
— Kevin Schofield (@KevinASchofield) October 4, 2023

20. A lavish auction hosted by the Conservative Democratic Organisation saw a lunch with Priti Patel go for £1,700 amid the current cost of living crisis.

Whilst families across the country struggle with #CostOfLivingCrisis #Tories live it up at #ConservativePartyConference

100s attended a black tie dinner last night hosted by the Conservative Democratic Organisation, with an auction that included:
- bottle of Bollinger signed…
— Gina Miller (@thatginamiller) October 2, 2023

21. Kemi Badenoch claimed Britain is the best country to be Black a week after Braverman claimed multiculturalism has failed.

Kemi Badenoch: “I tell my children this is the best country in the world to be black because people see people not labels”. Which some will see as a statement that multiculturalism has been a triumph, not the failure asserted by Suella Braverman
— Robert Peston (@Peston) October 2, 2023

22. Jeremy Hunt asked if voters wanted “sound money under the Conservatives or to run out money under Labour”, despite being brought in as chancellor after his Tory predecessor crashed the economy.

“Sound money under the conservatives or run out of money under Labour “ says the chancellor Jeremy Hunt - who was literally brought in to rescue the economy from a previous conservative chancellor’s policies .. #cpc23 pic.twitter.com/z3BOZ0mOed
— emily m (@maitlis) October 2, 2023

23. West Midlands Tory mayor Andy Street made an impromptu speech against the cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2. Reports that he was considering quitting soon followed.

I wasn’t expecting this in Manchester, but I won’t let HS2 go without a fight.

The offer to the PM is there - work with me and the private sector, grip the costs, and build Britain’s future. pic.twitter.com/JYBdkbGxHS
— Andy Street (@andy4wm) October 2, 2023

24. After repeatedly insisting they had not decided to scrap the HS2 line to Manchester, the Tories scrapped the HS2 line to Manchester, while meeting in a former railway station Manchester.

'He might talk about long term decision making but he's making very instant short term decision making'

Former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was asked on #BBCBreakfast about Rishi Sunak's expected announcement to scrap the HS2 rail line to Manchesterhttps://t.co/gDn3a2mmXC pic.twitter.com/voKazfhMpO
— BBC Breakfast (@BBCBreakfast) October 4, 2023

25. Tory press office reportedly refuse to let newspaper sketch writers in the conference room where Sunak was to give his closing comments.

Excitement at Tory Conference as left-wing firebrand @Madz_Grant of filthy socialist rag The Telegraph joins the Guardian's @JohnJCrace on the list of Sketchwriters BANNED from Rishi Sunak's speech. pic.twitter.com/FGN3WM4TkZ
— Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) October 4, 2023

26. Akshata Murthy gives an unexpected introduction to Sunak, claiming her husband, the PM, is a man of “honesty and integrity”. It comes after days of criticism over Sunak’s lack of transparency over HS2.

Akshata Murthy coming out to bat for her husband, the Prime Minister, is touching…

Yet, to claim Rishi Sunak is a man of “honesty and integrity” when his own ministers have pushed a series of lies, conspiracy theories and culture wars at #CPC23 sounds hollow pic.twitter.com/qqXfH9QUrv
— Sangita Myska (@SangitaMyska) October 4, 2023

27. Rishi Sunak said there is a feeling that “politics just doesn’t work the way it should” in the UK in his closing speech. The Tories have been in power since 2010 and Sunak became PM by default last year when all other Tory leadership contenders pulled out.

Sunak complains of "broken politics" and "politicians saying things" then not doing them.

Things like... we will tackle climate change or... we will not put up national insurance or... we will build HS2?

"It doesn't have to be this way," he says.

This is SURREAL. ~AA #CPC23 pic.twitter.com/Jb2hpKfGgX
— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) October 4, 2023

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See The Maddest (And Scariest) Moments From The Tory Conference

1. Tory chair Greg Hands slammed the Labour leader for “flip flopping” over his policies, and offered to sell pairs of “Sir Keir Starmer flip flops for just £16.99”.

2. Liz Truss’s hardline speech drew in a huge crowd a year after her policies crashed the economy, triggering her resignation.

3. Claire Coutinho started a beef with Labour – the energy secretary claimed the opposition were considering taxing meat, even though this is not a Labour policy.

4. Priti Patel heaped praise on GB News one week after Ofcom launched another investigation into the broadcaster.

5. Nigel Farage and Priti Patel were seen singing and dancing together to Frank Sinatra’s I Love You Baby.

6. A huge crowd formed at the book signing for ex-PM Theresa May’s new exposé, Abuse of Power.

7. Lee Anderson asked why anyone would want to go to Bradford when asked about HS2. He said: “Anyone here from Bradford? Would you want to get there quicker?”

8. Michael Gove claimed Brexit did actually deliver on the £350m a week for the NHS.

9. Jacob Rees-Mogg openly supported hormone-injected beef from Australia.

10. After one Tory MP claimed that asylum seekers may pretend to be gay to get through the system, Rees-Mogg suggested some may self-harm.

11. Transport secretary Mark Harper was accused of spouting right-wing conspiracy theories after claiming local councils want to control how often you go to the shops.

12. Rishi Sunak did not rule out former UKIP leader and former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage’s return to the Tory Party.

13. Farage later said he wouldn’t join or even vote for the Tories, saying it represented “nothing I believe in”.

14. Suella Braverman doubled down on her divisive rhetoric, saying there would be a “hurricane” of migrants coming to the UK.

15. On the Human Rights Act, the home secretary said: “I’m surprised they didn’t call it the criminal rights act.”

16. Tory candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, claimed some Jews are “frightened” of current mayor Sadiq Khan. She later refused to apologise, claiming she had been misunderstood.

17. The London chair of the Conservative party, Andrew Boff, was kicked out of Suella Braverman’s speech, after complaining she was delivering a “homophobic rant”.

18. Suella Braverman was pictured standing on a guide dog’s tail.

19. The Conservatives released a new poster which claims they are “kicking woke ideology out of science”.

20. A lavish auction hosted by the Conservative Democratic Organisation saw a lunch with Priti Patel go for £1,700 amid the current cost of living crisis.

21. Kemi Badenoch claimed Britain is the best country to be Black a week after Braverman claimed multiculturalism has failed.

22. Jeremy Hunt asked if voters wanted “sound money under the Conservatives or to run out money under Labour”, despite being brought in as chancellor after his Tory predecessor crashed the economy.

23. West Midlands Tory mayor Andy Street made an impromptu speech against the cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2. Reports that he was considering quitting soon followed.

24. After repeatedly insisting they had not decided to scrap the HS2 line to Manchester, the Tories scrapped the HS2 line to Manchester, while meeting in a former railway station Manchester.

25. Tory press office reportedly refuse to let newspaper sketch writers in the conference room where Sunak was to give his closing comments.

26. Akshata Murthy gives an unexpected introduction to Sunak, claiming her husband, the PM, is a man of “honesty and integrity”. It comes after days of criticism over Sunak’s lack of transparency over HS2.

27. Rishi Sunak said there is a feeling that “politics just doesn’t work the way it should” in the UK in his closing speech. The Tories have been in power since 2010 and Sunak became PM by default last year when all other Tory leadership contenders pulled out.

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1. Tory chair Greg Hands slammed the Labour leader for “flip flopping” over his policies, and offered to sell pairs of “Sir Keir Starmer flip flops for just £16.99”.

2. Liz Truss’s hardline speech drew in a huge crowd a year after her policies crashed the economy, triggering her resignation.

3. Claire Coutinho started a beef with Labour – the energy secretary claimed the opposition were considering taxing meat, even though this is not a Labour policy.

4. Priti Patel heaped praise on GB News one week after Ofcom launched another investigation into the broadcaster.

5. Nigel Farage and Priti Patel were seen singing and dancing together to Frank Sinatra’s I Love You Baby.

6. A huge crowd formed at the book signing for ex-PM Theresa May’s new exposé, Abuse of Power.

7. Lee Anderson asked why anyone would want to go to Bradford when asked about HS2. He said: “Anyone here from Bradford? Would you want to get there quicker?”

8. Michael Gove claimed Brexit did actually deliver on the £350m a week for the NHS.

9. Jacob Rees-Mogg openly supported hormone-injected beef from Australia.

10. After one Tory MP claimed that asylum seekers may pretend to be gay to get through the system, Rees-Mogg suggested some may self-harm.

11. Transport secretary Mark Harper was accused of spouting right-wing conspiracy theories after claiming local councils want to control how often you go to the shops.

12. Rishi Sunak did not rule out former UKIP leader and former Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage’s return to the Tory Party.

13. Farage later said he wouldn’t join or even vote for the Tories, saying it represented “nothing I believe in”.

14. Suella Braverman doubled down on her divisive rhetoric, saying there would be a “hurricane” of migrants coming to the UK.

15. On the Human Rights Act, the home secretary said: “I’m surprised they didn’t call it the criminal rights act.”

16. Tory candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, claimed some Jews are “frightened” of current mayor Sadiq Khan. She later refused to apologise, claiming she had been misunderstood.

17. The London chair of the Conservative party, Andrew Boff, was kicked out of Suella Braverman’s speech, after complaining she was delivering a “homophobic rant”.

18. Suella Braverman was pictured standing on a guide dog’s tail.

19. The Conservatives released a new poster which claims they are “kicking woke ideology out of science”.

20. A lavish auction hosted by the Conservative Democratic Organisation saw a lunch with Priti Patel go for £1,700 amid the current cost of living crisis.

21. Kemi Badenoch claimed Britain is the best country to be Black a week after Braverman claimed multiculturalism has failed.

22. Jeremy Hunt asked if voters wanted “sound money under the Conservatives or to run out money under Labour”, despite being brought in as chancellor after his Tory predecessor crashed the economy.

23. West Midlands Tory mayor Andy Street made an impromptu speech against the cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2. Reports that he was considering quitting soon followed.

24. After repeatedly insisting they had not decided to scrap the HS2 line to Manchester, the Tories scrapped the HS2 line to Manchester, while meeting in a former railway station Manchester.

25. Tory press office reportedly refuse to let newspaper sketch writers in the conference room where Sunak was to give his closing comments.

26. Akshata Murthy gives an unexpected introduction to Sunak, claiming her husband, the PM, is a man of “honesty and integrity”. It comes after days of criticism over Sunak’s lack of transparency over HS2.

27. Rishi Sunak said there is a feeling that “politics just doesn’t work the way it should” in the UK in his closing speech. The Tories have been in power since 2010 and Sunak became PM by default last year when all other Tory leadership contenders pulled out.

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