Politics
Liam O'Dell
Oct 05, 2022
Sky News
In a case of sheer poetic beauty, a stand at the Conservative Party Conference dedicated to ‘Conservative Friends of NHS’ has been pictured with its banner falling down and litter on the floor – and the jokes are writing themselves.
Perhaps an apt metaphor for how improvements to the National Health Service have ‘stalled’ (sorry) under successive Tory governments, the messy set-up also spelled the word ‘Conservative’ wrong.
Instead, the signage opts for ‘Conservtaive’, which reads like a long lost relative of Donald Trump’s infamous ‘covfefe’ blunder from 2017.
Private Eye journalist Solomon Hughes spotted the tragic display and tweeted: “Conservative Friends of the NHS stall at Tory conference has been abandoned in a state of disrepair, with a falling down banner and litter. Appropriate.”
And, of course, the ridicule soon followed:
\u201cConservtaive\u201d— Will Wiles (@Will Wiles) 1664901327
\u201cInstallation art\u201d— Alex (@Alex) 1664904845
\u201cLife imitating art?\u201d— Drinkmeforfree (She/Her) \ud83d\udc99 (@Drinkmeforfree (She/Her) \ud83d\udc99) 1664922460
\u201cSeems about right\u2026 \ud83e\uddd0\u201d— Aaron Read \u2695\ufe0f (@Aaron Read \u2695\ufe0f) 1664954843
\u201c\u201cConservative Friends of the NHS\u201d lol\nMembership : 0\u201d— Rod Smith MW (@Rod Smith MW) 1664951690
\u201cThis picture says it all about the Tory position on the NHS.\u201d— Sue \ud83d\udc99NHS #ToriesOut #SaveOurNHS (@Sue \ud83d\udc99NHS #ToriesOut #SaveOurNHS) 1664922769
Conservative Friends of NHS have since responded to the viral image, writing on Twitter: “Because we all were in reception at the time you decided to take a picture. This was [the] most busy stall in the conference.
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“We have suggested changes that you will see now to make NHS more access. Just watch the space [sic].”
They then proceeded to share several snaps of the stall having a much busier turnout, in a bid to shut down criticism of the messy state the stall was in:
\u201chttps://t.co/GM8KGVnPsU\u201d— Conservative Friends of NHS (@Conservative Friends of NHS) 1664924801
\u201cYou went after midnight as you sleep during the day.\u201d— Conservative Friends of NHS (@Conservative Friends of NHS) 1664925090
\u201chttps://t.co/Qkn3vtitie\u201d— Conservative Friends of NHS (@Conservative Friends of NHS) 1664925795
It isn’t the first time that a Conservative Party Conference stall has caused a PR headache, as last year’s conference saw the LGBT Conservatives group stationed under section 28 of the expo hall.
Section 28, of course, being the infamous legislation passed under Margaret Thatcher’s government which banned schools and councils from “promoting the teaching of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”.
Good to know the Tories still care about their brand image.
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