Protesters gathered in the heart of Manchester on Monday to continue demonstrations at the Conservative Party Conference.
Convening in a heavily policed St. Peter’s Square, campaigners banged drums and chanted at the conference delegates scurrying past.
The crowd were not united by age, or even political leaning - the only thing that seemed to tie them together was anger at the current government.
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The Conservative Party Conference is being held at Manchester Central Convention Complex from October 3-6.
But this is Manchester - a city dominated by Labour - and amongst some, the presence of the Tories drew palpable anger.
Damien, 24, from Blackpool, said it is “disgraceful” to hold the conference in Manchester.
“They know how much they have influenced the North, from Margaret Thatcher all the way up to now, and still they insist on coming here and thinking that this is the place for them.”
Boris Johnson has promised a ‘levelling up’ agenda for the North - but for Damien, his promises are too little, too late.
“The Conservatives have frequently neglected the North,” he told the Manchester Evening News .
“I feel like they should hear the people and understand what’s gone wrong and why people don’t like them so much.”
Other demonstrators had come out to make themselves heard over specific issues. Powerfully brandishing a handmade banner, Dr Jacqui Stanford came down to protest the Sewell Report - a document published last March, which concluded that Britain is “no longer rigged against ethnic minorities”.
“The whole country rejected the Sewell report," she claimed.
"Nevertheless, it was announced in the Queen’s Speech, that they’re going to go ahead with it, and use it to create legislation on the premise that institutional racism is no longer a feature in Britain.
“There is institutional racism in the country. We can address it, we shouldn’t ignore it, and we certainly shouldn’t overturn the gains of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry.”
She stood in the exact place that nearly 18 months ago, thousands gathered to protest and mourn the death of George Floyd in the US.
A little further from the clamorous crowd, a yellow tent advertised details of Andy Burnham’s recently announced Bee Network - his answer to the city’s transportation woes.
Manned by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), they’re asking the Conservative government to fund the scheme, in what a TfGM spokesperson called “a real, tangible example of levelling up for Greater Manchester”.
“We’re here to ask the government to work with us to support levelling up," they said.
Officially announced in 2018, the Bee Network hopes to make active travel the “number one” choice for moving around the city.
Despite the heavy police presence and clash of opinions, the protest remained peaceful.
One onlooker told the M.E.N that similar demonstrations had become nasty in the past years ago, with delegates allegedly being spat on and heckled.
The scenes this afternoon may have been far more subdued, but they leave no doubt that whilst the Conservatives may hold power, many here are still unconvinced by promises of levelling up.
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