George Osborne says the planned sale of Lloyds shares to the public is "the biggest privatisation for more than 20 years", adding: "Every penny we raise, we will use to pay off our debts."

The chancellor says his job is "to make sure the country never again gets into this mess". Running a budget surplus means "we will be better prepared when the storms come". The Commons will vote on the proposal next week, he says.

"It's always the poorest who suffer when the economy fails," George Osborne tells his audience. He attacks "economic cruelty dressed up as socialist compassion".

The chancellor says to working people: "We are on your side." He says many working people still voted Labour at the last election, but have now been "abandoned by a Labour Party lurching off to the left". He says the Conservative Party should "extend a hand" to them.

Image source, PA

The chancellor thanks party activists for the election campaign, and says that Downing Street maintenance staff are also grateful that they don't have to "install an eight foot high tombstone in the back garden".

George Osborne recalls the moment the election exit poll was broadcast and says elections provide a chance for the people to make their views known to politicians. He says the Conservatives were elected to "take decisions" and not "duck them".

George Osborne makes his keynote speech to conference.

"If I told you 12 months ago that the MP for Morley and Outwood was going to come on this stage and talk about the economy, you'd have called security!" he jokes.

The crowd rises to applaud leader David Cameron as he takes his place in the hall. There's more applause for the new Conservative MP for Morley and Outwood, Andrea Jenkyns, who unseated Labour's Ed Balls at the election.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin says the government is committed to high speed rail and "that amazing Crossrail project under London". He calls Labour's policy of rail nationalisation "a union-demanded, backward-looking, money wasting con". He adds that, under public ownership, British Rail "ran just 14 train services a day from Manchester as against 47 today".

The culture secretary says it is right that the role and remit of the BBC is examined as the renewal of its royal charter approaches:

John Whittingdale says the government is consulting on a new sport strategy and the Premier League will "substantially increase their investment in grassroots football in clubs and schools". He argues:

Culture, Media and Sport Secretary John Whittingdale gets his turn to speak, insisting that his party backs the arts.

He praises the conference host city and claims the arts are central to the government's Northern Powerhouse plans.

Sajid Javid says the government's Trade Union Bill, which would require a minimum turnout for strike ballots, follows a promise of "trade union reform" in the Conservatives' manifesto.

Business Secretary Sajid Javid runs through the many name changes the ministry previously known as the Department for Trade and Industry has had since there was last a Conservative secretary of state. "From the DTI, to BERR to BIS. And at one point, rather appropriately, it was even called dippy."

He says there were "two decades of countless Labour ministers" and "five years of Vince Cable. And believe me, that was more than enough!" He adds, to the delight of the audience:

Image source, PA

Denis Healey - who has died at the age of 98 - was the last of the great post-war generation of political "big beasts" who dominated British government in the 1960s and 70s, writes Robert Orchard.

In 1974, he was appointed chancellor and delighted Labour activists by promising to squeeze property speculators "till the pips squeak" - words Labour's new left-wing shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, would surely be proud of.

But Healey had to face down the wrath of the Labour conference in 1976 and was virtually shouted down as he told his party some home truths about the scale of spending cuts they must accept to keep Britain solvent, after he had been forced to go "cap in hand" for an emergency loan to the International Monetary Fund as the economy teetered on the brink of collapse. He later described it as the most harrowing day of his life.

The spending cuts Healey imposed - as godfather of "austerity" economics - produced more savings in one year than George Osborne has planned for nearly a decade.

Skills Minister Nick Boles introduces himself to the conference, joking "though my friends know me as Tory scum". Referring to the verbal abuse party members and others have received from some demonstrators in Manchester, he says it "puts a spring in your step to have that shouted at you". He quotes Margaret Thatcher: