Two environmental protesters were the unlikely rescuers of Liz Truss’s premiership-defining speech at the Conservative party conference on Wednesday.
Minutes into her pitch to win over her fractured party, two Greenpeace campaigners brandished a banner critical of the government’s reversal on fracking for oil.
“Let’s get them removed,” Ms Truss said, as security guards hauled the women out of the Birmingham conference hall.
The prime minister stood at the lectern as the boos followed by “out, out, out” faded.
“Come on Liz!” someone shouted from the auditorium.
Clapping became raucous applause then a standing ovation. There was a marked shift in mood in the prime minister's favour, and perhaps even a hint of endearment towards a leader one troubled month into her job.
Ms Truss turned from her autocue speech to say the campaigners were part of the “anti-growth coalition” that was holding Britain back.
Growth was the thrust of her conference speech and her attempt to restore her authority damaged by a bungled tax-cutting mini-budget this week.
The rebellion among her MPs, including some Cabinet ministers, appeared to have been quelled as Ms Truss grew in confidence.
She did not repeat Margaret Thatcher’s “the lady’s not for turning” but Ms Truss is steadfastly refusing to reverse course.
No matter the consequences, in particular high interest rates that will hit homeowners hard, the prime minister will pursue her plan of a low-tax economy to generate “growth, growth, growth,” she said.
“I will not allow the anti-growth coalition to hold us back,” she said, rounding on growing opposition in Parliament and on the streets.
“Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the militant unions, the vested interests dressed up as think tanks, the talking heads, the Brexit deniers, Extinction Rebellion and some of the people we had in the hall earlier.”
These were the types who favoured “protesting to doing” or “talking on Twitter to taking tough decisions”.
“It’s always more taxes, more regulation and more meddling,” Ms Truss said to more applause. “Wrong, wrong, wrong!”
This reception seemed more genuine than the lukewarm response to an opening video clip that highlighted her transient upbringing in Scotland and Yorkshire.
Her nerves were evident as she lifted a glass of water with both hands, before recalling a moment of sexism in her childhood following a flight when she was awarded a junior air hostess badge while her two brothers received pilot badges.
A brief reference was made to “raising two wonderful daughters” but not one to her husband, Hugh, or to her predecessor Boris Johnson.
She proclaimed herself as the first prime minister to come from a state comprehensive school and said she had experienced the same shock as every other worker “at how much the taxman took out of my first payslip”.
There were a few slips. She went straight through praising “our dynamic new chancellor”, Kwasi Kwarteng into her next sentence and forgot to wait for the choreographed applause.
She backtracked, allowed the clapping, then, in a moment of contrition over the debacle of the tax cut to high earners she reversed on Monday, said: “I get it and I have listened.”
In London, the FTSE-100 index of blue chip shares ticked steadily upwards from a low before the 11am speech.
Perhaps it was spurred on by her “I love business” line, which was in contrast to Mr Johnson’s expletives against business.
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British Prime Minister Liz Truss speaks at the ruling Conservative Party's annual conference in Birmingham. Reuters -
Attendees take their seats before the keynote speech by Ms Truss. Bloomberg -
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi speaks. PA -
Prime Minister Truss and her husband Hugh O'Leary arrive for day four of the Conservative Party conference. Getty Images -
A delegate wears a red 'Make Britain Great Again' cap. Getty Images -
A member of the audience wears socks with Union Jack colours. Reuters -
Liz Truss and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng visit the construction site of a medical innovation campus during day three of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Getty Images -
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly arrives at the conference. Reuters -
Former home secretary Priti Patel speaks in Birmingham. Getty Images -
A delegate is pictured with a bag displaying pictures of former Conservative prime ministers Benjamin Disraeli, Winston Churchill, Boris Johnson and Margaret Thatcher. AFP -
Mr Kwarteng delivers a speech on day two of the annual Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. Getty Images -
Liz Truss, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Therese Coffey listen to Mr Kwarteng speak. Reuters -
Ms Truss arrives for the Conservative Party Conference. EPA -
Leaflets with Ms Truss on the cover are seen on the second day of the conference. Getty Images -
A person attending the conference carries a bag from the Taxpayers' Alliance. EPA -
Refugees present Tory delegates with 'one-way tickets' to Rwanda during a protest outside the Conservative Party annual conference. PA -
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg laughs as he arrives. EPA -
Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng chat at the opening session of Conservative Party conference in Birmingham. EPA -
A protester demonstrates outside the annual autumn conference. Bloomberg -
Mr Kwarteng gives a TV interview. Reuters -
Protesters march with placards at a demonstration in Birmingham against the Conservative government as the party's conference started in the city. Bloomberg -
The prime minister and members of her Cabinet sing the national anthem at the opening session. EPA -
Penny Mordaunt, Leader of the House of Commons, pays tribute to Queen Elizabeth II. PA -
Protesters and police clash in Birmingham city centre. Getty Images -
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson is reflected in Mr Kwarteng's glasses. Reuters -
A protester holds a placard condemning the chancellor. Bloomberg -
Ms Truss arrives at the conference. Bloomberg -
Delegates take a break outside the venue on the opening day. AFP
There were a few policy lines. Britain would continue its fight to remove the European Court of Human Rights it helped to found from domestic legislation.
The programme to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda would continue unhindered, and all EU laws on business administration would be scrapped.
To louder applause Ms Truss pledged Britain’s support for Ukraine in its fight against Russian occupation.
“No matter how long it takes,” she said. “Ukraine can win, will win, Ukraine must win.”
The “anti-growth coalition” came in for fire as the prime minister voiced her determination to turn Britain into on a low-tax, low-regulation economy — no matter the consequences.
“I will take the hard choices,” she said, before striding offstage. “It’s a new Britain for a new era.”
