From the gag of the day, to the party’s unlikely hero – here are the highlights from the Tory conference

The Conservative Party Conference kicked off in Birmingham yesterday - a big one for the party, as it is Theresa May's first as PM, and the first since the Brexit vote.

Here, our Westminster Correspondent rounds up the highlights from the first day.

• The annual Press versus Tory MPs football match saw Housing Minister Gavin Barwell score the first conference own goal on Sunday morning - heading the ball into his own net. The press won 5-2.
• BoJo is enjoying the trappings of power: “My office is so vast that you could comfortably fit three squash courts and so dripping with bling it looks like something from the Kardashians."
• Boris took a cheeky pop at the BBC during his speech, branding them "infuriating and shamelessly anti-Brexit" at times.
• After calling Brit businessmen “too fat” Liam Fox told a breakfast meeting: “People ask ‘do you want a soft Brexit or a hard Brexit', like they are talking about a boiled egg”.
• Scots Tory Ruth Davidson is unimpressed with her “annoying fly” Labour rivals “buzzing around making noise, banging headfirst into things and then getting squashed”.
• It's not just Theresa May who has been hitting the shops recently - Mr Philip May has been buying smart new suits now he is the UK's official First Husband.

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GAG OF THE DAY

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson claimed “we have an absurd situation in which the EU is actually trying to veto the ivory ban in spite of having a president called Donald Tusk.”

Hero of the day

2

David Davis for performing an astonishing act of self-sacrifice by agreeing to stay silent until the Brexit negotiations are complete.

ST. THERESA BROWN NOSE OF THE DAY

Tory Chairman Patrick McLoughlin and Brummie Mayor wannabe Andy Street both name checked Victoria politician Joseph Chamberlain on stage - Theresa May’s top aide Nick Timothy wrote a book about him.

Tribute kitten heels of the day

2

Delegate Sharon Wong from London showed off her Theresa May-inspired footwear.

THE 'JUST GETTING BY' AWARD

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation will today host a conference fringe meeting about “how to solve poverty the Conservative way” - with “The Spectator’s own brand gin & tonic served to guests.”