Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Conservative Party in the U.K., was allegedly assaulted Monday after being hit on the head with a traffic cone.
According to the Spectator, Duncan Smith was on his way to a Brexit talk on the fringes of the party conference in Manchester when he was pursued by a group who assaulted him. Greater Manchester Police said three men and two women were arrested, the Independent reported.
Duncan Smith told the Spectator that “for half a second, I was about to go up and punch them, I went forward and they all backed off — I nearly knocked them out, lost my rag.”
He added that “they smashed the cone on the back of my head and so I turned and grabbed the cone and looked at them and I took a pace towards them and they backed off. I threw the cone on the ground, said ‘pathetic’ and turned and walked off. They were incoherent, they were stupid.”
The Conservative Party’s annual gathering, which kicked off in Manchester at the weekend, will last until mid-week.