Protestors have surrounded a hotel where David Cameron admitted he had handled the Panama Papers affair badly, in an attempt to force the Prime Minister to resign.
Hundreds of protestors blocked people from entering or leaving the central London venue, which has also been surrounded by police. Activists prevented cars from accessing roads around the venue as well as blocking all of its entrances.
The Grand Connaught Rooms in London are currently hosting the Conservative's spring forum, an event where David Cameron said that he was to blame for the handling of the affair.
But the venue was also surrounded by hundreds of activists, part of the "Cameron Resign" protests, who are asking the Prime Minister to resign. A heavy police presence guarded entrances to the building, which held many of the Conservatives' most senior politicians and activists.
Protestors surrounded a car that was attempting to leave the venue, with people jumping on the car, showering it with fake money and chanting slogans about tax avoidance that asked David Cameron to step down.
Mr Cameron himself was able to leave the venue before protestors arrived, some activists suggested. He has come under sustained criticism after admitting that he benefited from the sale of shares in an offshore fund before he entered office.
Thousands of people took to the streets of London during a protest that started at Downing Street and then made itself towards the venue for the Conservatives' spring meeting.
Most of the protesters then made their way back down to the outside of Downing Street to take part in an afternoon of activities, which included speeches by celebrities and TV personalities. Most of those present were families, and the mood was mostly congenial and not especially violent according to people who were on Whitehall, though more hardcore protestors were also thought to be at the event.
Around 2,000 to 5,000 people were estimated to have taken part in the protest across its various locations. They were matched by a huge police presence, focused largely on the Conservatives' meeting near to Covent Garden, and included hundreds of officers and vehicles.
The protests had been organised largely on Facebook, after the ongoing fallout from the Panama Papers tax leak.
Some of those involved in the protest argued that Cameron should only resign if he did not fix tax loopholes. Others committed to stay on Whitehall until Cameron left office.
At the protest, people said that they had come along not just because of the recent disclosures about Mr Cameron's family's tax affairs.
"I’m down here not necessarily because of the tax thing but the build-up of things, which I’ve especially felt as a teacher," Dominic Corfield, 25, a teacher from Manchester, told The Independent. "This feels like a ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ moment.
“It feels like the first time in quite a while that it could be historical, there could actually be something going on, time will tell… if this is the first day or the only day. If this is the first day, maybe something will happen.
“I’m very angry with the way things are going, but I think this could maybe be a moment, and I think it’s something you can’t miss.
“Ideally I think Cameron should use his position, I think that would be the best solution. We can’t have an election unless they get a vote of no confidence against him.
“I’d rather see him use his position to make the changes but do I have faith he will do that? Absolutely not.
“The question is, what happens if he does go? What comes then, Osborne, Johnson? Would that be better? It’s not like there is a better more liberal, centrist conservative alternative to Cameron. The only people who could step in are people who have been with him every step of the way.
“I don’t think Cameron will resign. The only way he’ll go is if he’s forced out by his own party, but I think there will be people trying to do that. But he’s backed into a corner now, and I think he’ll fight, both his own party and the opposition.
“The momentum here is great, but what comes after Cameron goes is the dangerous part.”
Will Forrest, 21, a student also from Manchester said: “I think he should resign, I think that’s exactly what’s called for.
"I think it’s a false dichotomy [that there are not better political alternatives]. If Cameron were to resign, you’d see the infighting between the Tory candidates, the Conservative Party would be at each other’s throats, there would be total disarray.
“If he resigned as a consequence of these protests there would be huge momentum. That’s when people would start calling for a repeal of the [five year] fixed term Parliament Act and a snap election.
“It’s going to sound like a cliché, but the people hold the power at the end of the day, there’s only so long you can stay in the streets for before they have to do something.
“Labour and SNP politicians should be putting the pressure on inside Parliament, and we bring the pressure to Downing Street outside Parliament.
“I think it could be a movement, I don’t think it’s a choice between Cameron and whoever would come to replace him.”
Inside the venue, David Cameron said that he had not had a "great week".
"I know there are lessons to learn and I will learn them," he said. "Don't blame Number 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers, blame me," he told the meeting, in a stark admission that followed a week of criticism.
Additional reporting by Will Worley
