The Tory Party conference will begin in Manchester later today
, in his first conference as leader, is expected to focus on policies that have the potential to narrow the polls against his Labour rivals.The Prime Minister was dealt a blow on the eve of conference when it was revealed that Richard Walker, the executive chairman of Iceland supermarket, had quit the party.
Later today Mr Sunak will make a visit to a town in Lancashire to mark the announcement of a £1 billion fund to help regenerate towns across the UK. Some of the places being awarded the funding are part of the so-called Red Wall – constituencies in Labour’s traditional heartlands of the North of England and the Midlands that Boris Johnson won for the Tories during his landslide election victory in 2019 – which Mr Sunak will need to hold at the next election to remain in No 10.
While in Manchester, Mr Sunak is likely to face further questions about the future of HS2 following speculation he is considering axing the second phase between Birmingham and the conference’s host city over cost concerns. Reports have suggested that some Cabinet ministers could use the conference to begin positioning for the next leadership contest, with one eye on the opinion polls currently suggesting the Tories could be in Opposition by this time next year.
Mrs Braverman, who has been tasked with helping to deliver Mr Sunak’s pledge of stopping boats of migrants from crossing the Channel, told the Mail On Sunday that celebrity critics were ‘out-of-touch pampered elites’ who were ‘virtue-signalling’.
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