Shadow Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho has thrown her support behind Tory MP Andrew Rosindell’s call for the national anthem to be played at the end of the Conservative Party Conference.

Speaking to GB News, the East Surrey MP said: “Play it at the beginning, play it at the end. I think it would be a great thing.”

Ms Coutinho’s comments came just hours after Mr Rosindell put pressure on Mrs Badenoch to play God Save the King at the end of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.

However, Tory sources pointed out that the national anthem was played yesterday, on the opening day of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.

Insiders also revealed that the national anthem was only played last year “because all four candidates were on stage doing a display of national unity”.

Despite playing down the concerns about a curtain-raising rendition of the national anthem, Tory figures have been unable to deter Mr Rosindell from his push for change.

The Romford MP has a longstanding track record of pushing for God Save the King to be played more often, putting pressure on the BBC and making similar demands at conferences in years gone by.

Speaking to GB News, Mr Rosindell said: “I’ve asked for the national anthem to be played at the end of conference again.

“And I hope it will be played. I’ve spoken to the party chairman [Kevin Hollinrake]. He’s sympathetic.”

However, Mr Rosindell added: “The indication so far is that it won’t be played.”

The 59-year-old Tory MP, who also put pressure on the BBC to play God Save the King every night, revealed that the national anthem is likely being replaced by “pop music”.

The decision to replace God Save the King with pop music also raised eyebrows after Mrs Badenoch made a music playlist for last year’s party conference.

Mrs Badenoch’s 15-part Spotify playlist included Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson, I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas and London Boy by Taylor Swift.

The national anthem had been a regular fixture of Tory Party conferences under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher.

However, following the Conservatives’ humiliating defeat of 1997, God Save the Queen was dropped from the conference schedule.

The national anthem returned to the Tory Party Conference last year, having yet again been axed from the schedule in 2023.

Land of Hope and Glory had also been considered the unofficial anthem of the Tory Party throughout the 20th Century, with Sir Winston Churchill closing the party’s 1949 conference with a rendition in London.

However, other Tory leaders have also closed Conservative Party Conference with pop songs, including Theresa May’s decision to end festivities in 2016 with Mr Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra.

Other political parties have also closed their respective conferences with patriotic songs for decades.

Labour closed its 2025 party conference in Liverpool with renditions of both the Red Flag and Jerusalem.

Sir Keir Starmer previously decided to open Labour’s 2022 party conference with God Save the King following the death of the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Meanwhile, Nigel Farage closed Reform UK’s annual conference in Birmingham last month with the national anthem.

The Reform UK leader was flanked by the leading lights of his insurgent party, while Greater Lincolnshire Mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns led the performance with her singing.

Meanwhile, at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth, Sir Ed Davey exited the stage on the final day to Neil Diamond’s 1969 hit Sweet Caroline.