James McAlpine, the 7ft 2in student who went viral as the 'world's tallest Tory' at the 2025 Conservative Party Conference, says he has loved every moment of his year in the spotlight. Speaking to Metro at this year's Tory conference, he said: 'It's been so much fun, very engaging, and I've loved every single moment of it. I never would have imagined it in a thousand years, but I've really loved it, every single second.'
From viral fame to TV appearances
Since going viral, McAlpine has made a number of appearances on GB News and appeared as a guest on Channel 4's The Last Leg in November, where he met comedians Katherine Ryan and Harriet Kemsley. He has also drawn attention at county farming shows around the UK, where he has argued that Labour is hurting rural communities, putting them 'at the bottom of the list, when they should be at the top'.
He criticised comments from nature minister Jenny Riddell-Carpenter at Labour conference, where she warned that a 'far-right, nostalgic vision of Britain' could be peddled at the next election, including 'warm ale' and 'a black Labrador by your feet in a pub that doesn't exist'. McAlpine responded: 'I know many people who live in the countryside who are even Labour who own black Labradors, and trust me, those black Labradors aren't racist. I used to have a black Labrador. She wasn't racist at all.'
Support for Kemi Badenoch
The 2026 Tory conference is Kemi Badenoch's second as leader, but her job looks considerably more secure than it did last year. McAlpine is now a big fan, but confesses that wasn't always the case. He told Metro: 'I voted for Robert Jenrick, regrettably so, cause then he went to Reform. But good riddance to him, I don't like him one bit, I think he's rude. Kemi's doing absolutely fantastic, and opinion polls are rising by the week.'
He predicted the next general election will be a head-to-head fight between the Tories and Reform UK, but he is unlikely to get directly involved as a candidate. At last year's conference, McAlpine confessed he had long-term ambitions to become a Conservative MP and possibly run for leader in the future. Now no longer a student, he revealed he is on the job hunt but not looking for a role in the Tories just yet.
He said: 'It's still very much on the cards, I can assure you that. In a few years' time – not the next election, maybe not the one after, but the one after that, I think you could definitely see me as a candidate running, running for an MP position.'
