Attendees of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham have seen handing out all manner of merchandise - from lollipops to beauty products. Although freebies and gifts have left , the potential future leaders of the opposition have not been able to give merch away quickly enough to draw in Tory support. While the usual fare of pens, badges and stickers are all available, each one - Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch and James Cleverly - has tried to beat the competition with eye-catching gimmicks.
Monday’s fashion items were the new ‘Bobby J’ baseball caps from Team Jenrick to accompany the T-shirts each team is offering to anyone who wants to take them. But the popularity of the item was nothing compared to the rush to Mr Tugendhat’s stall on Sunday. Team Tugendhat was offering temporary tattoos and ‘Tom’s fake tan’ - which some speculated was inspired by Donald Trump - which ran out in under an hour.
Less popular were lollipops featuring a photo of him - but he did bring back the previously popular M&Ms with his face on them. Mr Tugendhat admitted that he had brought four days worth of giveaways and they were all gone before the end of Sunday. He had to send out his team to get more supplies.
The key to getting the most attention was to find the most . hall next to the Margaret Thatcher Theatre - a popular spot for discussions and for members to hang out. Not far away was Mr Tugendhat’s stall, bang in the middle of the exhibition zone.
One in.