North and South

How can universities cut through the Brexit noise to influence the next Conservative manifesto?

The Conservative Party must be regretting having signed a long-term contract to host its annual shindig at the Manchester Central Convention Complex. When it first put pen to paper, George Osborne was MP for Tatton—Martin Bell’s old seat, now occupied by Esther McVey—and the Cameroons dreamed of making inroads into the soft underbelly of the Northern Powerhouse.

Now, following a decade of austerity and three years of Brexit delay, Manchester seems as hostile a venue for the Conservative Party as it would have been in the 1980s or 1990s. The conference complex is surrounded by a ring of steel, concrete and police officers as the wind and rain lash against the undaunted protestors outside.