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Evan Bartlett
Oct 06, 2015
![Yes, even left-wing journalist Owen Jones](https://www.indy100.com/media-library/yes-even-left-wing-journalist-owen-jones.jpg?id=28097026&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C78%2C0%2C78)
Yes, even left-wing journalist Owen Jones
Once the buzz (we're joking here) over George Osborne's "devolution revolution" and Theresa May's plans for immigration has died down, the most memorable aspect of this year's Conservative Party conference will undoubtedly be the seething contempt shown towards senior Tory politicians and journalists attending the event.
As well as a young Tory delegate (avec Union Jack pocket square and Margaret Thatcher-daubed Daily Telegraph) being egged, Boris Johnson had a series of inflatable balls thrown at him in anger (yes, really).
But not only were obvious Tories met with disdain by this small (but very noticeable) minority of anti-austerity protesters in the city; almost anyone wearing a blue lanyard in the vicinity of the conference centre was subjected to verbal abuse at some point.
So ridiculous has the level of vitriol been that even those who are anything but "Tory" have been abused, including:
Owen Bennett, a reporter for Huffington Post and author of an unflattering book on Nigel Farage, was spat at by protesters
As was Michael Crick, the Channel 4 journalist who recently doorstepped a Tory activist undercover at a Jeremy Corbyn rally
Prominent left-wing journalist and anti-austerity campaigner Owen Jones was called a "Tory scumbag"
As was Kevin Maguire, the associate editor of the left-leaning Daily Mirror and columnist for the New Statesman
But it wasn't only journalists, charity workers were abused too
Even Labour councillors
More: Jeremy Corbyn broke protocol to address a rally during the Tory conference
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