The looming Conservative party conference will see leadership hopefuls quite literally setting out their stalls as the four remaining contenders turn to political merchandise to win support. Branded tote bags, mugs and T-shirts will all be weaponised as Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat compete to show their popularity in the contest to succeed Rishi Sunak. Each will have their own individual stalls in the exhibition hall at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, where the conference that will decide the party’s future opens on Sunday. Badenoch is no slouch in the political merchandise game. An online shop on her leadership website, renewal 2030.co.uk, offers a “No Bad in Badenoch” mug for £6. The “Be more Kemi” T-shirt commands a £13 price tag, the long-sleeve version £23. And what about a Kemi hoodie for £35?
For the less ostentatious, who may balk at emblazoning their voting intentions across their chests, there is a more discreet water bottle (£15) or a reusable coffee mug. Cleverly has water bottles, too, along with tote bags, umbrellas and more. His “Caffeinate with Cleverly” coffee cups could be a hit. Can they compete, though, with Tugendhat’s “Tom: Serve. Lead. Act” cups? Other Tugendhat merch on offer includes pens, notebooks, highlighters and stress balls for those for whom the leadership contest is proving too much. Giant “Tom” foam hands with a pointing index finger have been spied. And it would be a crime if there was no Tugendhat hat! Alas, the Priti Patel T-shirt may now be out of date; the former home secretary was knocked out in the first round. But that T-shirt may have an afterlife. Two weeks after the 2022 Tory party conference, unsold “In Liz We Truss” coffee mugs were still available from the official Tory party shop at a giveaway £14.99. T-shirts bearing the same slogan could be snapped up for £24.99. A trawl on eBay reveals one on sale now for £13.15. A limited edition hand-crafted toby jug of the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister can also still be found on the Houses of Parliament website as part of a range of former prime minister memorabilia. Only 1,500 Truss Tobys were made, working out at about 30 for each of her 49 days in office. Meanwhile, a brand-new “PM4PM” T-shirt, for supporters of the former sword-carrying MP Penny Mordaunt in her failed 2022 Conservative leadership campaign, is on offer for £13.99 on eBay.
Political merchandise has long been a popular fundraiser for parties. The Conservative party online shop shows cufflinks at £20, baseball caps (£7.99) and knitted scarves (£13.99) to be the bestsellers. The Tories also have “Walking to Win” flip-flops at £15.99. They seem less popular than their general election offering of novelty red flip-flops, bearing Keir Starmer’s face with the words “flip” and “flop” – mocking the Labour leader’s alleged U-turns. At £16.99, they completely sold out. More often than not, the best political merch is the unofficial. The most inventive often raise no funds for the parties and instead are the result of the endeavours of opportunistic entrepreneurs on websites such as Etsy. Which is how the former home secretary Suella Braverman spawned a thousand memes, T-shirts and even Glastonbury flags with her infamous put-down of environmental protesters as “Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati”.