Lord Frost has said the mood of the Conservative Party conference is “far too positive” as he warns that the party is in an “extremely bad situation”.The senior Tory peer said Kemi Badenoch’s party is “on the edge of ceasing to exist” as a political force, with the party polling in third.Lord Frost explained that activists need to adopt a mood of reflection after losing “10 million voters since the 2019 election”.Speaking to activists at a fringe event, he said: “The mood at this conference has been far too positive. We’ve got to start by acknowledging the mess we’re in. We’ve lost 10 million voters since the 2019 election. This is an appalling situation for a mainstream party.”The obvious strategy of trying to recreate a proper, strong Conservative party is now much more difficult, because there already is another one and it’s doing better than we are in the polls. It’s very easy to understand why people might go: ‘Why bother? One already exists’.”Everything is getting worse, and it has been doing so consistently since November last year. No prescription for the party works unless we accept that the situation for the party is extremely bad. We’re on the edge of ceasing to exist as a mainstream party.”Attendees at the event told GB News that it is “the worst it’s ever been” at the conference, with another chipping in: “It’s f**king dead”.The Tories are currently polling 15 points behind Reform UK in the polls, and six points behind Labour despite Sir Keir Starmer being branded the “most unpopular Prime Minister,” after hitting the lowest satisfaction rate of any PM since 1977.FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…
Day three getting underway at Tory party conference
Day three of the Conservative Party conference is slowly getting underway in Manchester, with some big Tory names set to speak today.Chris Philp, Robert Jenrick, and Dame Priti Patel will all speak at the conference today, hoping to fill the auditorium, which had many empty seats yesterday.In Mr Jenrick’s speech, he will vow to abolish the Sentencing Council and is expected to set out plans to put ministers in charge of sentencing policy, arguing that the current situation has resulted in a “two-tier nightmare” with people treated differently by the courts.Speaking today at the Tory party conference:10:00am: Chris Philp MP, Shadow Home Secretary10:25am: Stuart Andrew MP, Shadow Health Secretary 10:50am: Gender critical debate 11:15am: Laura Trott MP, Shadow Education Secretary 11:40am: Robert Jenrick MP, Shadow Justice Secretary 2:00pm: James Cartlidge MP, Shadow Defence Secretary 2:25pm: Dame Priti Patel, Shadow Foreign Secretary 2:50pm: Tony Abbott, former Australian PM