Rows of empty seats at key speech as Tory conference branded 'like a wake'

The Tories' finance chief faced rows of empty seats as he made one of the most important speechs of the Tory Party Conference.

Sir Mel Stride outlined sweeping cuts to welfare spending and draconian cuts to the civil service if his party ever gets back into power. But delegates at the showcase event in Manchester have noted it is a lot less busy than previous years, with supporters staying away.

The 1,000 capacity auditorium was filled for Kemi Badenoch's opening address on Sunday, but has been empty ever since. On Monday morning there was not a single protester outside the conference area - whereas in the party's heyday there would have been hundreds.

READ MORE: Top Tory says Reform 'marching to the left' as he plots draconian welfare cuts

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Dr Ellie King, who is attending this year's event, wrote: "Last year, it was like the wife has just left us and we were in shock. This year, she’s taken the house and kids and it’s dawning on us that she isn’t coming back. It is like being at a wake."

And on Sunday she posted on Twitter/X: "It is completely dead. We are completely dead. But hey the white wine is chilled."

Latest polls by YouGov show just 11% of the British public think the Conservatives are in a position to govern, and a megapoll suggests they could win a mere 45 seats if there was an election now.

Mrs Badenoch has struggled to find an answer to Reform UK's rise in popularity, with experts suggesting Nigel Farage is on course for No10.

Polling guru Sir John Curtice told a fringe event that the Tories need to make it to “base camp” before they could even think about climbing the electoral “Himalayas” of returning to government.

And he told delegates: “The Liberal Democrat vote is now much more geographically concentrated than your vote, and the electoral system is now treating you like it treated the Liberal Democrats.

“And so the Liberal Democrats are just behind you in the polls, they are going to almost undoubtedly win more seats than you.”

Sir Mel told the party faithful that the Tories are the only ones holding Reform UK to account. He said: "Reform’s manifesto promised tens of billions in unfunded commitments.

"They want to scrap the two-child benefit cap, spending billions more on welfare and they want you to pay for it. We say that if you want to fund a large family then that’s great but you should look to yourself to pay, not the state.

"And Reform want to get back to the days of nationalisation and state control. They are marching to the left."

He continue: "Be in no doubt, they are the party of more spending and more debt. And when it comes to Reform be assured of this, that when the glitter, the shimmy of the sequined dress, the razzamatazz, the spinning plates, the fireworks have faded you will be left with emptiness. The dull bell alone. The hollowed out promises that never were.

"But Reform are being found out and it is this Conservative Party that is holding them to account."

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