Protesters Disrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss’ Speech At Conservative Party Conference
Pictured: Greenpeace Protesters at ICC Birmingham
Just after 11am on Tuesday 5 October 2022 Liz Truss, the new Prime Minister begun her speech as Conservative Party Leader to her fellow party members at Conservative Party Conference 2022 at the ICC Birmingham.
However, not long after beginning Greenpeace protesters disrupted her speech with a banner asking ‘Who Voted For This?’.
The protesters were eventually escorted out of Conference, nevertheless it raised questions on the Prime Minister’s mandate. Other than the environmental issue of fracking in local areas there are other issues where the question of ‘Who Voted For This?’ can be asked. They allude to these main points:
She has not been through a general election therefore the manifesto voted by the public was not hers but Boris Johnson’s.
Her election as Conservative Party Leader, this Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was only voted for by 160,000 people who are Conservative Party members.
Her radical reforms and policies have been mainly discussed between only herself and the Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng. This has lead to many in the Cabinet itself who are Secretaries of State, such a Penny Mordaunt, Suella Braverman and Kemi Badenoch disunited in their rhetoric on certain issues.
The Conservative Party is currently fragmented through differing wings and factions of the party. The more centrist and populist Boris Johnson was able to unite these factions at the 2019 General Election. However, after a warring leadership contest with Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak which saw deep divisions across the party. Now with the new ‘mini-budget’ it has launched back-benchers, such as ex-Cabinet ministers/Secretaries of State, Michael Gove and Grant Shapps.
Can Liz Truss both unite and lead party and nation?
By Saffron-Lucia Gilbert-Kaluba