--- title: Theresa May Gives Viral Speech and Internet Reacts With Memes description: During a speech on Wednesday, British prime minister Theresa May dealt with a number of disruptions. Here's how people are responding. canonical: https://time.com/4968737/theresa-may-memes/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-04T16:05:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:45.545Z og:title: The Internet Has Jokes on Theresa May's Interrupted Speech og:description: She dealt with a persistent cough, a heckler and a problematic backdrop og:url: https://time.com/4968737/theresa-may-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abfaed070e35df4/6988e089cf40a8abefc49aad/theresa-may-prank.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Conservative Leader Makes Her Keynote Speech To Party Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Has Jokes on Theresa May's Interrupted Speech twitter:description: She dealt with a persistent cough, a heckler and a problematic backdrop twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abfaed070e35df4/6988e089cf40a8abefc49aad/theresa-may-prank.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Has Jokes About Theresa May's Frequently Interrupted Speech  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 4, 2017 4:05 PM UTC  MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 04: Comedian Simon Brodkin, aka prankster Lee Nelson, hands Prime Minister Theresa May a P45 during her keynote speech to delegates and party members on the last day of the Conservative Party Conference at Manchester Central on October 4, 2017 in Manchester, England. The prime minister rallied members and called for the party to "shape up" and "go forward together". Theresa May also announced a major programme to build council houses and a cap on energy prices. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images) MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 04: Comedian Simon Brodkin, aka prankster Lee Nelson, hands Prime Minister Theresa May a P45 during her keynote speech to delegates and party members on the last day of the Conservative Party Conference at Manchester Central on October 4, 2017 in Manchester, England. The prime minister rallied members and called for the party to "shape up" and "go forward together". Theresa May also announced a major programme to build council houses and a cap on energy prices. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)Carl Court—Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Oct 4, 2017 4:05 PM UTC It was a [rough day for Theresa May](http://time.com/4968610/theresa-may-conservative-party-heckler-speech/). The British Prime Minister delivered a speech at the annual Conservative Party conference on Wednesday to an audience of fellow Tories. But between a persistent cough, a lettered sign that wouldn’t stay put behind her and the disruptive behavior of a heckler who handed her a dismissal slip as a prank, [May’s message](http://time.com/4968680/theresa-may-interrupted-prankster-conference-speech/) was nearly drowned out by the many interruptions. Naturally, the internet has plenty of hot takes on all the snafus you can watch in the video above. > [](https://twitter.com/owenjbennett/status/915534112361984001) > [](https://twitter.com/TechnicallyRon/status/915545780219469824) > [](https://twitter.com/arachnochist/status/915585029501329409) > [](https://twitter.com/simonbrodkin/status/915538904211709952) > [](https://twitter.com/piersmorgan/status/915545201447460870) > [](https://twitter.com/FilmBookClub/status/915584672603795456) > [](https://twitter.com/JOE%5Fco%5Fuk/status/915553848021979136) > [](https://twitter.com/FraserNelson/status/915578105888219136) Some sharp-eyed viewers also noted an interesting jewelry choice by May: a bracelet decorated with what appears to be the likeness of Frida Kahlo, a noted Communist. > [](https://twitter.com/LiamitoBrowne/status/915583944644612096) May herself, however, had one response to the aftermath: a reminder that she’s just human after all. And badly in need of cough medicine. > [](https://twitter.com/theresa%5Fmay/status/915567812831318016) Theresa May Gives Viral Speech and Internet Reacts With Memes ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4968737/theresa-may-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4968737/theresa-may-memes/"},"headline":"The Internet Has Jokes About Theresa May's Frequently Interrupted Speech","datePublished":"2017-10-04T16:05:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:45.545Z","description":"During a speech on Wednesday, British prime minister Theresa May dealt with a number of disruptions. Here's how people are responding.","url":"https://time.com/4968737/theresa-may-memes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","memes","Theresa May"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abfaed070e35df4/6988e089cf40a8abefc49aad/theresa-may-prank.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0abfaed070e35df4/6988e089cf40a8abefc49aad/theresa-may-prank.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Conservative Leader Makes Her Keynote Speech To Party Conference","caption":"Conservative Leader Makes Her Keynote Speech To Party Conference","creditText":"Carl Court—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4968737/theresa-may-memes/","name":"The Internet Has Jokes About Theresa May's Frequently Interrupted Speech"}}]}] ```