No pre-conference razzmatazz? I wondered if it was because there are so few members of the party. I was just reading an article which discusses the ageing, falling membership of the Tory party. It's only subscription on-line but I will quote a little.
"The party's conference in Manchester, like Labour's in Brighton, will be full to bursting. But where the labour shindig is chock-full of members, trade unionists and hangers-on from the charitable sector, the Conservative gathering is a more corporate affair: lobbyists outnumber members by four to one. At a fringe event last year, the journalist Peter Oborne demanded to know how many people in the room were party members. It was standing room only - but just four people put their hands up"
(Stephen Bush "Another Voice" New Statesman 2-8 October 2015)
