It’s the first night of the Conservative party conference and (so far) the drama is yet to live up to last year’s mini-Budget mayhem. But just down the road from the official venue in Manchester, rebel grassroots’ group the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO) tonight threw a black tie gala dinner. Some 300-odd attendees were in attendance, including Nigel Farage and around a dozen Conservative MPs including keynote speaker Priti Patel and deputy chairman Lee Anderson. Hopes of an appearance by Boris Johnson though, were sadly dashed.
But while Patel gave a characteristically punchy speech that included lengthy praise of GB News, it was the performance of CDO President Lord Cruddas that raised the most eyebrows. Cruddas, a former Tory donor and longtime thorn in the side of CCHQ, decided to give a ten-minute welcoming speech that attacked the current party as ‘corrupt and anti-democratic.’ The peer – who takes the Conservative whip in the House of Lords – even told attendees to stop funding his party until democratic reforms have been achieved:
The Conservative party needs to become more democratic and representative of our members.
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