Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and other members of the cabinet listen to Prime Minister Theresa May deliver her keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference (Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA Images)
What do you overhear if you go to the Conservative Party conference? By day, at fringe events and speeches, the tepid applause and occasional yawns of a movement that's intellectually and physically exhausted. By night, a lot of braying as the Tory youth Activ8 themselves into hotel bars.Being a bit more specific, here's the best and worst stuff I heard at the conference this year:"Can I borrow a fag?"
The Toriest possible reaction to being asked for a fag… at a tobacco industry lobbying party.A switched-on Tory activist on the party's problem appealing to the youth."Vegan socialists the lot of you."
Just some classic Tory conference toilet banter.A think-tank staffer finds running skeezy corporate fringe debates a bit of a faff."I'm from Hertfordshire."
A traditional Tory greeting ritual.What Tories say when someone mentions that Britain has the fifth biggest economy in the world.Geoffrey Van Orden MEP has a rose tinted view of how people have perceived the British military throughout history, at a meeting of Veterans for Britain.A drunken, semi-ironic rendition by some young Tories, overwrought after an evening speech by Liam Fox, turns into the full-throated chorus of an entire room.A pissed local wanders past the conference centre on his way to a big night out."Just horrendously painful to watch."
Journalists react to Theresa May's speech.We're an equal opportunities earwig, so here's what we overheard at Labour Conference.@SimonChilds13