‘Sorry’ May heckled by prankster, coughing fit
UK PM’s closing speech at party conference repeatedly disrupted May’s speech was interrupted when a prankster handed her a P45, a form given to those leaving a job, claiming he had been sent by Boris Johnson
Manchester, Oct. 4: Prime Minister Theresa May urged her party Wednesday to back her to deliver bold change for Britain, but her attempt to move past Brexit splits was marred by a protest, a collapsing set and a coughing fit.
Speaking four months after the June election, which was called by Ms May but which saw her lose her parliamentary majority, she began with an apology. “I hold my hands up for that. I take responsibility,” she said. “And I am sorry.”
But the Conservative leader also used her closing speech to the party’s annual conference to call for national unity after the divisive EU vote. She warned her ministers, who sat in front of her, that it was time to “shape up and give the country the government it needs”.
Ms May’s address, however, was stopped midway when a prankster handed her a P45 — a form given to those leaving a job — claiming he had been sent by rebellious foreign secretary Boris Johnson.
This year’s conference has been overshadowed by Mr Johnson’s decision to set out his rival vision for Brexit in a newspaper article last month.
No sooner had she resumed, than Ms May was overtaken by a prolonged coughing fit, which continued on and off throughout the rest of the speech. To make matters worse, the slogan on the wall behind her — “building a country that works for everyone” — began to collapse, with two letters falling off.
It was a farcical end to a four-day conference which has been marked by a subdued mood, a lack of big policies and lukewarm support for Ms May herself.
“It just couldn’t get worse than this. What a disaster. It’s a shambles, not a government,” tweeted Seema Malhotra, a lawmaker with the opposition Labour party.
Ms May’s distress appeared to rouse the delegates, who gave her repeated standing ovations — and when she could not speak, urged her on by shouting “Come on, Prime Minister!”