BorisWatch: All eyes on Boris Johnson as Tory conference continues

Boris Johnson has arrived at the Tory conference for a speech which many see as part of an effort to replace Theresa May as party leader after he publicly branded her Brexit plans “deranged”.

Here’s the latest:

10.42am – An anti-Brexit protester waving a Union Flag and the EU’s standard loitered outside the fence surrounding the conference venue as reporters and photographers waited for Boris Johnson’s arrival.

A group of Brexiteer MPs including Ross Thomson, Ben Bradley, Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Andrea Jenkyns were present to meet him.

As he arrived, accompanied by fellow Brexiteer Conor Burns, Mr Johnson ignored questions about whether his presence was undermining Theresa May.

10.26am – Boris Johnson’s father Stanley said he hoped his son would give an “invigorating speech” that “draws a considerable crowd”.

Despite being a Remain campaigner, Stanley Johnson said the former foreign secretary was “100% right about Chequers”, hitting out at the way it would leave the UK bound by EU rules without a seat at the table.

Stanley Johnson said: “Boris used the word ‘deranged’. I think that is almost too gentle a term.