Shrugging off crises, UK PM Johnson delights party, annoys business

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares his keynote speech in his hotel room before addressing the Conservative Party Conference the following day, in Manchester, Britain October 5, 2021. Stefan Rousseau/Pool via REUTERS

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed to radically re-shape Britain on Wednesday, exhorting his Conservative Party faithful to help government press on with tackling regional inequality by ending "long term structural weaknesses" in the economy.

In a speech to end his party's annual conference, Johnson, known for his overarching optimism in all things, listed what he called the Conservatives' successes and shrugged off fuel, food and industry crises as "merely a function of economic revival".