Today's launch of the Popular Conservatives was absolutely fascinating - but not in the way that you might think. Yes, the speeches were interesting - I thought Jacob Rees-Mogg gave one of the strongest I have heard from him as he railed against "Davos man".
Lee Anderson showed why party associations across the UK are desperate to book him ("Me and Jacob have one thing in common - we both were born on an estate").
And Liz Truss took aim at the rise of "wokery" and launched a few broadsides at the dinner party set within the M25 who run the country with scant regard for everyone else. You can read more about what was said at GBNews.com.
I was struck by what you could not see. Firstly the audience was impressive - rather than the damp squib I was expecting, there were 300 in the room, with every seat taken and standing room only.
Liz Truss launched the PopCons today
PA
In the seats were ex-No10 adviser David Canzini, a veteran of 30 years on the right of the party, along with Tory grassroots campaigner John Strafford, who is drafting a new 50-page version of the party's constitution was there.
There was a slew of former or current donors like Lord Ashcroft and property tycoon Nick Candy as well as other interested parties including former Brexit Party treasurer Andrew Reid and JCB executive Philip Bouvier (JCB owner Lord Bamford is a major donor to the party).
In other words, the audience was stuffed with the types of people needed to reconstruct a political party which has lost its way.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Christopher Hope gives his analysis on the launch of PopCon
PA
I am told on good authority that after the launch 70 donors and supporters - gathered for drinks at Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg's house nearby.
There were 30 Conservative MPs at the party - far more than the dozen or so who were at the launch - perhaps because they were a little nervous about being seen at the event by Government whips.
I am not surprised. For me, today's PopCon launch was very little about helping the party ahead of the general election. And everything to do with reconstructing a shattered Tory party after what appears to be a likely general election defeat in less than a year's time.
