Steerpike Steerpike

What did Tory members make of Boris Johnson’s speech?

Boris Johnson’s speech attracted the largest crowd of any conference fringe event. But does Boris have the backing of party members? Mr Steerpike spoke to some activists to see what they made of the speech:

Phoebe McCullough, 21, from Twickenham, a student at Sterling university, had this to say:

John Bennet, 23, from Sterling, said he thought Boris’s speech was the highlight of Tory party conference:

Adrian Hutson, from Belfast, said he thought Boris had fluffed some of his lines:

But while many were supportive of Boris, not everyone was convinced by his calls to unite behind the Prime Minister. Anthony Mullen, 26, from Sunderland said the speech showed Boris was still ‘putting his own ambition above party and country’. David Jeffrey, 26, agreed that Boris had ‘misjudged the mood of a party that wants to fight Jeremy Corbyn not each other’. Some attendees were also keen to point out that Boris had already had a chance to influence policy.

Steerpike
Written by
Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

Topics in this article

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in