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. Alex Ward, 24, from Fareham said that in his time as foreign secretary, ‘Boris did nothing on Brexit’.
There’s no doubt that Boris is the star attraction in Birmingham today – but has he done enough to convince members that he is the right man for the top job when Theresa May’s time in Downing Street comes to an end? The jury among members is out…
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