All the most Tory things on sale at Conservative Conference - but no Rishi Sunak

01 October 2023 , 14:38

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Thatcher and Churchill tote bags were prominently on display

Rishi Sunak was airbrushed out of his own party conference shop - with no novelty items related to him on sale.

Trinkets and clothing featuring the faces of former PMs, including Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill and David Cameron were all available to party faithful at their annual get-together in Manchester. A Mrs Thatcher Christmas Jumper, bearing the slogan “no, no, no, ho, ho, ho” - a reference to the former PM’s pivotal speech on Europe - was on sale for £25, with matching tree baubles available for £18.99.

Party bosses flogged Toby jug-style busts of Mrs Thatcher, Winston Churchill, John Major and David Cameron for £28.95. And hi-vis vests - in bright Tory blue instead of fluorescent yellow - were being sold for £14.99. While Mr Sunak was not represented anywhere in the shop’s stock, a number of novelty items attacking the Labour party were prominently on display. A book purporting to be Labour’s “Top secret LEAKED plan for the country” turned out to be a blank notebook.

A deck of Labour party Top Trumps cards, giving each opposition MP a “red rating” was priced at £9.99. And Tory chairman Greg Hands’ favourite item, red flip-flops with Keir Starmer ’s face on them, were priced at £16.99. Mr Hands even hawked the novelty footwear during his opening speech to the conference, telling attendees: “I warmly recommend them to you.”

The Thatcher Christmas Jumper bore the slogan "No, No, No. Ho, Ho, Ho"

Tory blue hi-vis vests were on sale

Mr Sunak arrived in Manchester yesterday to find his party teetering on the edge of civil war. He was accused of being beholden to Ms Truss and the right-wing of his party - as 32 rebel MPs vowed to block any plans to raise taxes. Ms Truss, whose premiership started to unravel this time last year at Tory conference, was joined by former cabinet ministers Priti Patel, Iain Duncan Smith, Brandon Lewis and Jacob Rees Mogg in pledging not to vote for any increase in taxes. The list of senior party figures pledging to rebel against him will be a major blow to the Prime Minister's authority as he struggles to prevent an all-out civil war at the annual get-together in Manchester.

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Greg Hands hawked the Keir Starmer flip flops during his main hall speech

Jon Ashworth, Labour's shadow paymaster general said: “Rishi Sunak is desperate for people to think he’s in charge. But even his own cabinet don’t believe him and are using this week to jockey for position in the race to replace him. Meanwhile, on issues from tax to HS2, Weak Rishi can’t say whether he’s going to u-turn on his own policies or carry on doing what Liz Truss and his party tell him to.

“The Prime Minister’s latest reset - pretending to be the motorist’s friend - has already stalled. Admitting he won’t actually stop 20mph zones proves it’s all just more verbal emissions from a man that once had to borrow someone else’s car for a photo op. Day one of Tory conference is proving the Conservative Party is too divided and too distracted to take Britain forward, while Rishi Sunak is too weak to do anything about it."

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Mikey Smith