It is a great honour to be speaking at this conference. I, like many of you have belonged to this party since I was a mere youth – and I was once a youth. I have sat in these seats since the days conferences were held at the seaside and I am glad that the members are once again rightly the focus of these sessions.
It was here in Manchester that Disraeli captured the essence of Conservative principles in his 1872 speech at the Free Trade Hall, when he set out our priorities for the constitution and the condition of the people, especially their health. He also noted that the audience he was addressing was of the highest intelligence, but not one that could compete with the brilliance, the luminescence of this gathering here today.
As he knew, the Conservative Party is a grassroots party. You are the source of all our energy and intellectual nutrition.
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