Attendees of the Conservative Party conference could be forgiven for forgetting who their leader is, as Kemi Badenoch’s face is not the most prominent in the Manchester exhibition centre.
Instead, the main hall is plastered with pictures of Margaret Thatcher as the party harks back to its days under the iron lady’s leadership.
The merchandise stall is flogging mugs, Christmas baubles and bottles of whiskey with Ms Thatcher’s face as the Conservatives celebrate what would have been her hundredth birthday.
Despite the milestone, the prominence of Ms Thatcher makes the absence of Ms Badenoch all the more stark. After polling guru Sir John Curtice said the Tory leader has failed to make an impression on the country, it is the sign of a party unsure of itself, clinging to a bygone era in which it had a strong, unwavering leader.
Another former leader is prominent in the conference arena, with attendees able to speak to an AI-generated Winston Churchill supplied by a digital consultancy.
The conference exhibition hall is a shell of what it was in previous years. The corporate presence here is massively scaled back, with some stalls – which are normally packed out – left empty, while a lot of the other stall spaces are taken up by Tory own brand offerings.
Meanwhile, prime exhibition spots have been taken up by Conservative party gimmicks – including a funfair game called ‘Labour’s circus of despair’, where you can spin “Rachel Reeves” wheel of tax and “whack a taxpayer”.
And, in another indicator of the Conservative Party’s decline, what would usually have been a packed train from London to Manchester on the opening day of its conference was practically empty.
Meanwhile, the usually packed bars, restaurants and cafes dotted around the conference centre have hardly anybody in them. There was one big attraction, with a fringe event featuring Badenoch’s former leadership rival James Clevely filling up 15 minutes before it started.
And the Conservative Party was on the attack on Sunday, with press officers passing round a goody bag stuffed with its immigration plan as well as an anti-Rachel Reeves pamphlet and a fake box of Reform UK-branded cigarettes.
The pamphlet is based on claims the chancellor embellished parts of her CV, and features AI-generated photos alongside fake achievements including Ms Reeves having built the pyramids of Giza and the Great Wall of China.
The empty cigarette box contained “detailed costings” of Reform’s policies, with a warning on the front that “unfunded promises can seriously harm economic health”.
Meanwhile, the merchandise stand has devoted significant attention to attacking Labour in its offerings – one example being a blank notebook titled “Leaked! Labour’s plan for the country”.
While in previous years, these may have been fun – if a little unnerving – political merchandise, one look at the polls renders them more awkward than anything else.
