Conference speeches are a prime opportunity for politicians to tell the world who they are and what they stand for. Annoyingly for some, the same applies to protesters. On Tuesday, Keir Starmer was showered in glitter by a protester from the group People Demand Democracy, just as the Labour leader was about to begin his speech at the party’s conference in Liverpool.
Starmer looked momentarily startled before the protester was escorted off stage by security. After taking off his jacket, Starmer addressed the conference by saying: “If he thinks that bothers me he doesn’t know me. Protest or power, that’s why we changed our party,” which was received with loud applause.
Months after a bruising election in 2017, Theresa May had hoped to shore up support and regain some authority at that year’s Conservative party conference. In a speech that was deemed make-or-break, the former Tory leader was handed a P45 by the comedian Simon Brodkin. After almost 10 seconds pushing through her speech as the comedian waved the mock-form near her face and in the view of cameras, she took it and placed it on the floor while continuing to speak, saying with a croak: “Some people say we spend too much time talking about Jeremy Corbyn’s past.”
Amid the commotion of Brodkin being escorted away from the stage, May said “you may not have heard that”, repeating the line about Jeremy Corbyn to tepid applause. Shortly after the commotion had settled, May said: “I was about to talk about somebody I’d like to give a P45 to, and that’s Jeremy Corbyn,” which was greeted with roars and applause.
Soon after, May was taken over by a hacking cough while the words on the set collapsed behind her. It was the handing of the P45 that dominated front pages the next day, with the Telegraph calling the speech a “tragic farce” and the Guardian saying it was a “nightmare”.
One year after parliament had voted for military intervention in Iraq in 2003, including putting troops on the ground, Blair had amassed many political foes. During his speech to conference in 2004, Blair was interrupted shortly after he began speaking by Hector Christie, who shouted: “You’ve got blood on your hands!” before being led away by police. Blair appeared unfazed by the interruption, saying the heckler was lucky to be free to voice his protest.
About 15 minutes later, about six hunting supporters stood up, began shouting and set off rape alarms on the balcony overlooking the main floor before, again, being escorted away by police.