THERESA May ‘reminded me why I voted for her’ Evesham’s MP Nigel Huddleston said following the Prime Minister’s conference speech which was plagued by a bad cough, an encounter with a prankster and a crumbling set.
Billed as a speech to revive Mrs May and her Government’s fortunes following the disaster for the Conservatives in June’s election, the speech attracted headlines for all the wrong reasons.
The 66 minute speech to Tory party members in Manchester saw prankster Simon Brodkin hand Mrs May a fake P45, before the Prime Minster was dogged by a persistent bad cough. And to make matters worse the letters on the set behind Mrs May began to drop off.
Despite this, Mid-Worcestershire MP Nigel Huddleston said the Prime Minster proved she is ‘gutsy’ and showed her ‘determination’ by finishing the speech.
The Prime Minister did announce a series of new policies including a revival in council house building by boosting the Government’s affordable housing budget by £2billion.
She also revealed the Government intended to introduce an energy price cap, a major review of university funding and student financing and an opt-in system for organ donations.
Mr Huddleston has also confirmed to the Observer his name does not appear on the list of 30 MPs who are calling for Theresa May to step down and for a leadership election to be held.
Speaking after the speech, Mr Huddleston said: “This was the most personal and emotional speech I have seen the Prime Minister give and she set a compassionate and optimistic tone that reminded me why I voted for her as Conservative Party leader in the first place.
“I was particularly pleased by the policy announcements on housing, organ donors, energy costs and the promised review of student finance which many young people in my constituency have contacted me about.
“Towards the end of the speech the Prime Minister said: ‘It has never been my style to hide from a challenge, to shrink from a task, to retreat in the face of difficulty” – and the gutsy and humorous way with which she dealt with a prankster and her determination to complete her speech despite a seriously saw throat showed that she is true to her word.”
