Kemi Badenoch insists she believes in maternity pay as Tory rivals jump on ‘excessive’ claim – UK politics live

After appearing to have descended into complete irrelevance with no protesters at all in Birmingham, Tory conference organisers may be relieved that the voice of anti-Brexit campaigner Steve Bray has put them back on the map.

Bray, a familiar figure in Westminster, turned up late on Sunday afternoon with his loudspeaker and started to blast the conference centre and few delegates in the building with funerial music.

Before that, the lack of protesters was matched only by the shortage of party members at a conference which is purely focused on the leadership election rather than the country.

Conservative Party MPs and officials scored a victory in a closely fought football match to kick off their annual party conference in Birmingham, in their first victory against the journalists’ side for 12 years.

The winning team had only one serving MP in their ranks, shadow education minister Gagan Mohindra, but the side was bolstered by former MPs Brendan Clarke-Smith and Karl McCartney who turned out for the side.

Both lost their seats at the general election. From the peers, Lord Evans of Rainow completed the lineup.

The lobby side dominated the early stages of the first half at the Aston Villa Academy Centre in Birmingham. They took a well-deserved lead after 21 minutes. Good work on the right saw the ball cut back to an unmarked Richard Vaughan who finished with ease.

The Lobby continued to dominate, but could not turn their possession into clear chances on goal. Their wastefulness was then punished by the Conservative side, who scrambled the ball over the line to equalise 10 minutes after the opener. A corner came over from the left and was not dealt with before it was forced in at the far post.

The Tories then seized the initiative with a fine goal to take the lead just before half time. A incisive through ball saw staff member Jack Pollard race beyond the defence into the area, before cutting the ball back and curling a fine shot into the top corner.

The Lobby started the second half by trying to seize the initiative again, but struggled to make a break through and Mr Pollard continued to cause problems for their back line.

However, they managed to get back on level terms halfway through the second half. A cross from the right was met by MPs’ centre back Jack Doyle, who in straining to stop the ball diverted it past his own goalkeeper.

Ahead of this week’s party conference, the race to become the next leader of the Conservatives is heating up, writes Andrew Grice – but given the state of the party’s popularity, how much does it actually matter?

James Cleverly is the preferred candidate to win the Tory leadership race amongst the British public, a new poll has shown – but a majority of respondents said they don’t know who they would support.

Asked which candidate would make the best prime minister, new polling by Techne put the former home secretary narrowly ahead of his rival candidates at 13 per cent support.

You can read the full story below:

Oliver Dowden was interviewed by police officers from the Gambling Commission as part of the official investigation into bets placed on the date of the investigation, sources told Sky News.

But sources close to the former deputy prime minister told The Independent that he is not and was never under investigation himself.

Sir Oliver spoke to the police to assist with their inquiries in an interview conducted in the early summer.

The inquiry, which was launched in June, is expected to continue for another three to six months.

As part of the probe, the Gambling Commission has reportedly seized “hundreds of documents” from Tory headquarters.

Robert Jenrick has signalled he would give Conservative party members a bigger role in choosing future MPs if he is made party leader.

Attitudes among some Tory activists were soured during the run-up to the general election campaign when Conservative MPs at risk of losing their seats were parachuted into safer constituencies.

Among them was Richard Holden, the then-party chairman, who was selected as the candidate for Basildon and Billericay when his former North West Durham constituency was abolished.

Mr Holden, who won the Essex seat, faced strong opposition from local Tory activists when the move was carried out using a foreshortened selection process.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference, former minister Mr Jenrick was applauded when he said it was “immensely disrespectful” to parachute candidates into safe seats.

He added: “It was disrespectful to anyone who aspires to be a Conservative candidate and member of Parliament. You have my solemn promise that will never happen if I am lucky enough to lead this party.

“You should be in the driving seat. You should choose who your parliamentary candidates are. That is how we inspire people of substance to stand as parliamentary candidates once again.”

Ditch the non-dom tax, chancellor – and bring in a Robin Hood tax instead, writes John Rentoul:

The only reasonable conclusion to draw from this extraordinary encounter is that Harry was wavering, but that somebody clearly wanted him gone, writes Will Gore – after all, who better to make someone want to leave Britain than the former prime minister?

Donors and businesses are turning their backs on the Tories for Labour and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK as the party enters its conference with question marks over its finances.

Insiders have told The Independent that a number of red flags have been raised in preparation for the first annual conference since the historically poor general election defeat in July.

Our political editor David Maddox has the full story below: