Theresa May struggled her way through her address to warring Conservative Party

LIVE: May closes Tory Party Conference – YouTube

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/world/europe/uk-theresa-may-p45-speech.html

First there was the prankster, theatrically handing her a notice that she was being fired. Then her voice went, a persistent cough disrupting her delivery, making her speech often painful to the ear.

Politics can be a cruel business, and just when Britain’s prime minister, Theresa May, needed a rousing, commanding speech to restore her authority over her warring Conservative Party, she had a nightmare.

Ending a party conference dominated by speculation about her fragile leadership, Mrs. May struggled her way on Wednesday through her set-piece address, the audience periodically giving protracted applause to allow her time to rest her croaking voice.

She repeatedly drank from her glass of water, and at one point the chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, handed her a cough lozenge. Sometimes she seemed almost to be reduced to a faltering whisper.

Then, toward the end of the address, letters began to fall from the slogan behind her onstage…….