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1 October 2021 9:56 AM

Carrie Johnson to speak at LGBTQ Conservatives meeting during party conference

The Conservatives' LGBT group has announced Johnson as a guest of honour and that she will be speaking about allyship.

By Alastair James

Words: Alastair James; pictures: Wiki

Carrie Johnson, the wife of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is giving a speech at an LGBTQ event at the Conservatives Party Conference next week.

The event, which is taking place in Manchester from 3-6 October will see Tory party members come together to discuss policy.

Johnson, who married the PM earlier this year, has also been named as a guest of honour at the Pride reception.

“A longstanding ally”

The LGBT+ Conservatives revealed that Johnson would be joining the group’s event on Wednesday (29 September) on social media.

They described Johnson as a “long-standing ally and friend of the group,” and that she’ll be speaking about “the importance of allyship.”

Elena Bunbury, chairwoman of the LGBT+ Conservatives is quoted by The Independent as saying Johnson previously judged the group’s virtual lipsync last year and that she was “thrilled” she’s joining.

The Conservatives’ conference is being held in partnership with the LGBTQ charity, Stonewall. It’s an odd pairing given the encouragement from some members of government for departments to leave Stonewall’s Diversity Champions scheme this year.

In June, Liz Truss, the former Equalities Minister, urged government departments to leave the scheme following concerns from the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Around 250 government departments are part of the scheme.

The UK Government has also drawn criticism from the LGBTQ community for a lack of action on banning conversion therapy. It was first promised by former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018 and was included in the Queen’s Speech earlier this year.

Following the speech, a consultation was announced, which was due to begin in September; although last week we heard that it had been delayed and wouldn’t get underway until at least the end of October, as reported by the BBC.

The Conservatives sparked fury this week by announcing plans to host the LGB Alliance, which will have a stand in the exhibition hall. One party member said they “felt sick” at the idea of this happening.

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