The party protesters buzzing around PC Pleb

Around half a dozen brightly coloured bees are buzzing around the entrance to the Conservative Party conference.

Their honeytrap: the offer of a free apple. Their demand: a national strategy to protect bees.

Emi Murphy from Friends of the Earth is part of the “bee cause” campaign: “We’re trying to let the Conservatives know that bees are very important for our society and economy – they’re like our natural capital. If we could put a price on them, it would be £1.8bn a year.”

But not everyone is listening. When one of her colleagues attempts to hand out a leaflet, a delegate takes it before handing it back saying “there are plenty of bees in my back garden”.

Emi is upbeat that the protest is making a difference: “It’s all about the British countryside and the British bees and it’s important for Britain to support our bees and I think the Conservatives understand that and I’ve generally had a positive response.”

‘Boris’ on a bike

One man certainly creating a buzz in Birmingham is Boris Johnson.

The London mayor would have been hard pushed, despite the fanfare, to miss a giant billboard at Birmingham New Street station asking if David Cameron is “taking the p” over “olice cuts”.

In an apparent attempt to “take the p” back, the Police Federation hired a Boris lookalike (on a bike, wearing a PC Pleb T-shirt) to bring the anti-cuts message to the doorstep of the Conservative Party conference.

Chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, Ian Edwards, told Channel 4 News it was an attempt to capture the public imagination: “We’re just trying to highlight that we’re facing cuts of 20 per cent.

“For far too long we’ve said ‘we’re having cuts, you’ve got to listen’, and this is about trying to highlight, when the Tories are in town – there’s no better time – that this is happening now and isn’t something we can ignore. It’s not going away. We’re down to the bare bones.”

Career campaigner

A little further down the road one career campaigner is making himself impossible to ignore.

G4S is providing the security at the Conservative party conference and queuing delegates, going nowhere fast, are a prime target for anti-nuclear activist Stuart Holmes.

Armed with a sign reading “Fukushima = global extinction” Mr Holmes bellows his message to those within earshot.

“I’ve been challenging delegates with the question ‘does anyone like nuclear power stations?’ and 95 per cent remain silent. The ones who do respond come out with ridiculous statistics.”

But does he think any Conservatives – who are largely pro-nuclear – are listening?

“At the end of the day there will be a political solution so I’m in the right place at the right time. I can’t do more than what I’m doing,” he told Channel 4 News.

“The truth is powerful and especially in a public situation if you challenge politicians in a public situation with the truth then you have a good chance of winning and that’s my strategy really.”