Tory conference arrives in Manchester while thousands take to the streets in protest

Boris Johnson and his ministers will give key speeches in Manchester


On Sunday the Conservative Party conference descended on Manchester as it does every two years.

With them came thousands of anti-Tory protestors who began their march from just outside the University of Manchester’s main campus on Oxford Road.

The protest comprising a coalition of students, trade unions and other left-wing groups aimed its anger at the conference currently ongoing at the Manchester Convention Centre. However, several layers of steel barricade walls and police (including several who appeared to be armed) kept protestors at arm’s length from the conference.

Police cordoned off the conference from protestors

Protestors marched through the city centre before eventually reaching their destination at the Castlefield Bowl where a closing rally was held.

The conference means for the next couple days Manchester will be filled with Tory delegates and a parade of government ministers including Boris Johnson himself.

From the 3rd to 6th of October, Spoons around the city will have noticeably more men in suits and blue ties than usual.

The protest began from just outside UoM campus

On Monday Jacob Rees Mogg was confronted by a man with cerebral palsy who called him a “disgrace” and accused him of being “just another Eton millionaire Tory who looks down on disabled people”. He blamed the Tories for losing his job as a youth worker and forcing him to undergo “humiliating” tests to prove his disability.

The conference has already been blighted by several incidents including former leader, Iain Duncan Smith being “hit on the head with a traffic cone” and a Tory member being suspended after “assaulting” a woman in a hotel bar.

On Wednesday, Boris Johnson will give his annual conference speech before the conference departs again.

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