May aims to counter Johnson attack with upbeat message

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British Prime Minister Theresa May will wrap up her Conservative Party's annual conference on Wednesday with applause for rumored leadership rival Boris Johnson still ringing in her ears.

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Key players in a divided party

Johnson challenges May on Brexit

Johnson, the former foreign secretary, gave a crowd-pleasing speech on Tuesday in which he ridiculed May's Brexit strategy. Delegates reportedly queued for up to four hours to secure a spot in the 1,500-seat auditorium to watch him address a fringe event.

May's efforts to unite the party behind her Chequers plan for Brexit have been less enthusiastically embraced – "Chuck Chequers" has emerged as an unofficial slogan at the conference.

A delegate wears pro-Brexit badges during the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, UK, October 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

Johnson, who also strayed onto domestic policy in what was widely viewed as a pitch for his party's leadership, told cheering activists that the Chequers plan was an "outrage" and a "humiliation." High profile euroskeptics have taken center stage throughout the four-day conference.

May, who admitted in a BBC interview that Johnson's speech had made her "cross" because it didn't deal with the Irish border issue, but will try to change the narrative with a keynote speech offering a "future full of promise" when she speaks in Birmingham.

"I passionately believe that our best days lie ahead of us and that our future is full of promise," the prime minister will say according to excerpts of her speech. "Don't let anyone tell you we don't have what it takes: we have everything we need to succeed."

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May prepares her keynote speech to the Conservative Party conference in her hotel room, in Birmingham, UK, October 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

Describing Brexit as a "moment of opportunity," she will promise to always act in the "national interest," a swipe at Johnson, whose alternative proposals for leaving the EU, she says, would tear the United Kingdom apart.

However, May's Brexit plan has been criticized repeatedly at the conference and was rejected in current form by EU leaders.

May and her team face weeks of difficult conversations with Brussels to win a deal, but she also faces challenges from inside her own party and her governing partners, Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), over Brexit.

Speculation is growing that the UK government is willing to accept some checks on goods passing between Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain to avoid inspections on the border with EU member Ireland, according to AFP. But the DUP on Tuesday rejected the idea outright

Boris Johnson, former UK foreign secretary, delivers a speech during the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, UK, October 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

Johnson was only one, and the least subtle, of May's rivals to set out a leadership pitch at the conference amid disquiet over the party's electoral position as well as Brexit.

The Conservatives are aware of the threat of the main opposition Labour party, which is only a few points behind in opinion polls and last week presented a radical program at its own conference.

Many ministers addressing the main stage in Birmingham have turned their sights on leftist leader Jeremy Corbyn, a theme expected to be echoed by May.

The prime minister will accuse Corbyn of being divisive, and paint her own party as "decent, moderate and patriotic", open to "everyone who is willing to work hard and do their best."

(With inputs from agencies)

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