The country's leaders take to the stage in Manchester - outside, the city is paved with protest

Applause rang out as the nation's leaders took to the stage in Manchester for this year's Conservative Party conference. But chants on the streets outside were in stark contrast.

Inside Manchester Central Convention Centre today (October 1), Parliament figureheads hailing their successes since the start of Rishi Sunak's premiership almost 12 months ago, and promising a future under a continued Tory government. Outside, a patchwork of protest signs stitch together a tapestry of issues of the day.

The NHS in crisis, impending climate collapse, even the fate of the American XL Bully dog, all featured as causes among the thousands who demonstrated through the city centre as the conference got underway. Winding their way past Mancunian landmarks, protestors took to their own stage in Castlefield Bowl to rail against more than a decade of Tory rule - as well as the infamously troubled rail project dominating headlines.

READ MORE: 'The north was promised the earth, but could be let down once again - it's madness'

READ MORE: For more of today's top Manchester Evening News stories, click here

HS2 has seen this annual political meeting get off to a stormy start. One demonstrator's sign reading 'free the north' pointed to the growing disillusionment of northern residents, echoed by regional leaders including Andy Burnham, as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refuses to confirm whether the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 will be axed over cost concerns.

But HS2 is far from the government's only source of turmoil as it seizes the microphone in Manchester. Signs reading 'pay the doctors more please', 'trans rights now, fight for liberation', 'refugees welcome' - the list of battles was almost endless.

As Daniel Kebede, the general