Boris Johnson’s biggest cheerleaders handed out baseball caps that were made in China, it can be revealed.
Fans of the ex-PM gathered in Bournemouth at the weekend for the inaugural conference of the Conservative Democratic Organisation.
The group, which was set up by supporters of Mr Johnson, is critical of the way Rishi Sunak was appointed as Tory leader without a vote of members.
Mr Johnson did not attend, but provided a signed magnum of Bollinger rose as a raffle prize and sent a video message which was played in the main hall.
He told the conference: "A massive thank you to you for everything you've done and continue to do for our great party, the Conservative Party."
Speakers at the conference included several of his most prominent backers including Nadine Dorries, Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The proceedings began with Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns singing the national anthem.
But in a less patriotic turn, some of the attendees were given foreign-made baseball hats with the CDO logo on them.
The labels inside states: “Made in China”
Claire Bullivant, the chief executive of CDO, said: “We ordered about 15 caps from Vistaprint to be worn by the security guards.
“They didn’t actually end up wearing them as they had proper security uniforms so we gave the caps away.
“To be honest I was a little disappointed in the quality of them and so would love to find a quality British manufacturer for future orders.
“Please get in touch if you make caps in the UK.”
Ms Patel, the former Home Secretary, told the conference that Mr Sunak was presiding over the "managed decline" of the Tory party and complained that the removal of Mr Johnson was "undemocratic."
Former Culture Secretary Mrs Dorries didn't outright call for him to return as leader, but she said the party needed to "get back" to where they were when he was Prime Minister.
Mr Rees-Mogg complained that Mr Johnson, “our most successful electoral asset was removed without even a by-your-leave from the members.”
But he warned against any move to oust Mr Sunak before the next election.
He said the party already looked “ridiculous” for changing leader twice in a year and it would look “absurd” to do it again.
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