Conference season draws to a close... with perhaps the most explosive fireworks saved until last

For years, hardline Eurosceptics kept their spirits up at fringe events, and were marginalised by the leadership. In a remarkable turnaround, they are the Tory establishment now

Confused message: letters fall off the backdrop as Theresa May speaks during a Tory conference (Getty)

The annual conferences of the political parties have become increasingly stage-managed during the 39 years I have been covering them. But they still have the capacity to go very wrong.

Although the party machines go to great lengths to head off disasters under the media spotlight, the best-laid plans often go awry. Labour spent months drawing up a raft of policy initiatives, but some were overshadowed at its conference by infighting sparked by the left’s botched attempt to abolish Tom Watson – well, his deputy leader’s post anyway. Sometimes, conferences can be eclipsed by events elsewhere; the Supreme Court ruling against Boris Johnson united Labour and it left Brighton on a high.

On Sunday, the Conservatives gather in Manchester for what Team Boris wants to be a shameless pro-Brexit rally with the simple but effective slogan “Get Brexit Done”. The traditional set-piece speaking slots for cabinet ministers have been pared back to just four – Dominic Raab, Sajid Javid, Priti Patel and Gavin Williamson – before Johnson’s closing speech, due on Wednesday.

As usual, Downing Street has urged ministers to come up with meaty policies – probably red meat, in this case. One conference ritual is that ministers keep No 10 in the dark in case they decide to filch their best announcements for the leader’s speech.

With Brexit at such a critical stage, there will be enormous pressure for a show of unity, and for the Tories to turn their collective fire on Jeremy Corbyn and what the government has pronounced as a “dead” Remainer parliament. The word will doubtless go out to Tory members not to be photographed glugging champagne at the many conference parties, which would help Labour portray the Tories as a privileged elite.

We can expect some rumblings at the margins about Johnson’s use of intemperate language in the Commons. Attempts by the leadership of any party to stifle debate usually fail because of the long list of fringe meetings. They often excite the media more than events in the main conference hall.

For years, hardline Eurosceptics kept their spirits up at such fringe events, and were marginalised by the leadership. In a remarkable turnaround, they are the Tory establishment now. Next week’s attractions on the fringe will include two of the 21 Tory MPs who lost the party whip for opposing no deal, Rory Stewart and David Gauke. Cabinet ministers until two months ago, they are marginalised now. Which tells us a lot about how the Tory party has changed.

Yours

Andrew Grice

Political Commentator