Opposition Leader Keir Starmer was unexpectedly showered with glitter on Tuesday just moments into his speech promoting the Labour Party in the U.K., video from the event showed.
Starmer had just walked onto the stage and thanked the crowd when a protester rushed on stage and doused the member of parliament with a several handfuls of glitter, a recording of the MP’s speech showed. The protester then managed to shout a few words into the microphone before being dragged off the stage by members of the security team. (RELATED: Women Arrested For Allegedly Breaking Into Man’s House, Throwing Glitter At Him)
“True democracy is citizen led,” the protester said. “Politics needs an outlet! We demand a people’s house! We demand a people’s house! We are in crisis!”
Sir Keir Starmer’s speech at the Labour Party Conference is interrupted within seconds by a protester who storms the stage and covers him in glitter pic.twitter.com/PSMzAO1amQ
— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) October 10, 2023
The protester continued to shout as he was dragged offstage, and the audience booed him as he was forcibly removed from the premises, according to the video footage. Starmer attempted to brush off the glitter from his suit before removing his jacket and addressing the crowd while rolling up his sleeves.
“If he thinks that bothers me, he doesn’t know me,” Starmer said before continuing his speech.
Starmer has led Britain’s Labour Party — the nation’s equivalent of the Democratic Party — since 2020, and has attempted to shift the political party’s affiliations to more accepted policies like a stronger National Institute of Health and more funding for social programs, The Associated Press reported. The Labour Party is currently 20 points ahead of the Conservative Party in polls ahead of the nation’s 2024 election, meaning that Starmer could easily become the U.K.’s next prime minister.
People Demand Democracy (PDD), a small political organization that claimed responsibility for the glitter attack, wrote a letter to Starmer in September demanding a “legally-binding national House of Citizens” to create policy for the nation without “party political pressures,” the organization’s website said. PDD said that the “disruption is planned to continue” against both the Labour and Conservative parties until the group’s demands are met, according to a press release on their website.
Police said that the suspected perpetrator of the glitter fiasco is currently being held on charges of assault, breach of the peace and public nuisance, AP reported.
PDD and Starmer did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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