It unwound spectacularly... Theresa May's keynote address was a collection of howlers that could not have been more appropriately timed to work against her message.

As she spoke about a country that works for everyone, with the Tory party slogan mounted on the wall behind her, the "F" fell off the For Everyone. Then a short while later, the E fell off the end. Was the universe perhaps disputing whether it really does work for everyone?... Or as one pundit challenged - is this the glue of austerity?

As she spoke about giving voice to the voiceless, she lost her own voice. A considerable amount of coughing, spluttering, hoarse starts, water sipping, and throat sweet sucking followed, to little avail. Was the universe demonstrating how hard it is to really give back voice to the voiceless?... Boris Johnson, apparently did not feel inclined to give her a standing ovation in order to give her time to recover her voice --- Amber Rudd was caught on national TV telling him to stand up and clap.

As she mocked her rival Jeremy Corbyn, a prankster in the front row got up and offered her a P45 (the UK equivalent of a pink slip for a fired employee), which surprisingly she took... and as she continued against the competing distraction, the audience lost focus and forgot to applaud...

May Day indeed!

Video clips:
1) Letter F falls of the Party Slogan... a country not for everyone?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2017/oct/04/tory-conference-letter-f-falls-off-slogan-behind-theresa-may-video

2) Great Expectorations... voice for the voiceless?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2017/oct/04/great-expectorations-theresa-may-battles-conference-coughing-fit-video

3) P45 given to Theresa May... Audience stops paying attention
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2017/oct/04/man-interrupts-theresa-mays-speech-to-hand-her-p45-video

4) Did Boris Johnson need to be reminded to stand up to applaud?
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/video/2017/oct/04/does-amber-rudd-tell-boris-johnson-to-stand-up-for-the-pm-video