Blue-on-blue attacks, Thatcher and immigration dominate as Tory hopefuls talks up their credentials for leader in conference speeches… but can ANY of them save the party?

Tory leader hopefuls sniped at each other, payed homage to Thatcher and hammered the party’s legacy today as they made their pitch to activists.

A ‘beauty parade’ of Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat laid out their cases one after the other in 25-minute speeches at party conference.

Both Mr Jenrick and Ms Badenoch – seen as the frontrunners – appealed for a revival of the 1970s Thatcherite spirit.

And all four gave a withering verdict on the party’s shortcomings in government, admitting that failures to bring down immigration and tax were major factors in the election drubbing.

But there were clear divisions on show, with Mr Jenrick stridently demanding the UK leaves the European Convention on Human Rights to ‘Stop the Boats’ and calling for a hard annual cap on legal migration.

Ms Badenoch launched a veiled dig at politicians obsessed with ‘media’, while she was seemingly targeted by Mr Cleverly who complained about those ‘hiding’ from scrutiny.

He also had a jab at Mr Jenrick’s decision to resign from government over the Rwanda plan, saying he had stayed to fight rather than ‘walking away’. 

For his part, Mr Tugendhat stressed his military background as he painted the others as ‘managerial’.

Mr Cleverly and Ms Badenoch were regarded as receiving the best reception in the hall, as MPs prepare to whittle down the field to a final two next week. The party faithful will then choose a successor to Rishi Sunak, announced on November 2.

However, although all insisted they can win the next election as Labour go into meltdown over freebies there was no disguising the scale of the challenge that the next leader faces to claw back ground and fend off Reform.  

A ‘beauty parade’ of (left to right) Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat laid out their cases one after the other in 25-minute speeches at party conference

The contenders singing the national anthem as the conference concluded after the speeches

Kemi Badenoch insisted the Tories must not be ‘afraid to do the right thing’ as she warned against treating government as a ‘media’ strategy

Ms Badenoch described growing up Nigeria, describing it as ‘a place where fear was everywhere’

Badenoch: Don’t be afraid to champion capitalism

Kemi Badenoch insisted the Tories must not be ‘afraid to do the right thing’ as she warned against treating government as a ‘media’ strategy.

The shadow housing secretary delivered a bullish message to activists about the need to be radical as she tries to get her leadership back on track. 

She warned that the Conservatives must ‘reverse decline’ and recognise that the government is ‘broken’ as she wrapped up the speeches by the four contenders.

MPs will whittle them down to a final two next week before members choose Rishi Sunak‘s replacement for an announcement on November 2. 

Vowing to ‘reboot and reprogram’ the country, Ms Badenoch said championing capitalism and combating the rise of ‘identity politics’ would be critical.

In a crowd-pleasing attack on welfare culture, she argued: ‘The wealth for the country comes from the people who work in it, not live off it.’ 

Giving a blunt assessment of the Tories’ 14 years in power, she insisted: ‘We promised to lower taxes. They went up. We promised to lower immigration. It went up… and we did not always defend our values.’ 

Ms Badenoch described growing up Nigeria, describing it as ‘a place where fear was everywhere’.

She said: ‘I was born here, but I grew up in a place where fear was everywhere. You cannot understand it unless you’ve lived it, triple-checking that all the doors and windows are locked, waking up in the night at every sound, listening as you hear your neighbours scream, as they are being burgled and beaten and wondering if your home will be next.

‘When you’ve experienced that kind of fear, you’re not worried about being attacked on Twitter.’

Ms Badenoch said: ‘I am a Conservative because I have seen what happens when a country loses sight of those principles.’

She told the party conference: ‘In Government, we did not always keep our promises. We promised to lower taxes, they went up. We promised to lower immigration, it went up. Why? Because the Treasury said high immigration was good for the economy, but we knew it was not good for our country.’

Ms Badenoch added: ‘Unlike the left, we know right from wrong, but we allowed ourselves to be bound by aggressive identity politics, by a Treasury whose rules were written by Gordon Brown, and a legal system re-engineered by Tony Blair.

‘You may think Blair and Brown were defeated in 2010, but the truth is the left never left – it’s time to make a change.’

Ms Badenoch described herself as a ‘sceptic’ of net zero.

The Conservative Party leadership race candidate told delegates and activists at their conference in Birmingham: ‘We set a target with no plan on how to meet it, just so politicians could say we were the first country to do so.

‘Now we have a net zero strategy addicted to state subsidy, making energy more expensive and hurting our economy.

‘I am not a climate-change sceptic but I am a net zero sceptic.

‘I did not become an MP to deliver an agenda set by Ed Miliband.’

Appearing before Ms Badenoch, Robert Jenrick urged Tories to reignite the spirit of Thatcher, scrap European human rights laws and secure borders. 

The former immigration minister – seen by many as the frontrunner – said the party must be ‘honest’ about its legacy, including the failure to bring down inflows and ‘Stop the Boats’.

‘The country just doesn’t trust us,’ he said. ‘We failed to deliver the strong NHS, the strong economy and yes the strong border that we promised. Friends we must never fail our people again.’ 

Despite potshots from rivals for ‘walking away’ from government in protest at the Rwanda plan being too weak, Mr Jenrick insisted that was the only thing that meant he hung on to his seat at the election.

In a rousing appeal, he said he was from the tradition of ‘Magna Carta’ and spoke of how the Tories changed leadership and direction in 1974, with Margaret Thatcher taking the helm.

He committed to leaving the European Convention on Human Rights to deal with Channel boat arrivals. He said the UK would no longer be open to everyone ‘and their relatives’. 

Mr Jenrick pledged to crack down on the ‘bloated’ foreign aid budget and pump defence spending up to 3 per cent of GDP.   

He also launched a culture wars attack at Keir Starmer saying he would ‘take the knee but he will never take a stand’, and could not see why Britain is great.

‘The country needs a leader, instead with Starmer we have an undertaker,’ he said, comparing Rachel Reeves to ‘Pinochio’ and Ed Miliband to ‘Wallace missing his Gromit’.

Exhorting activists to ‘come with me’, he said: ‘Our party is at its best when we friends are the trade union of the working people of this country.

‘Britain rises when all our people rise, all of them.’

Mr Jenrick was the third contender to take to the stage on the last day of the party’s conference in Birmingham.

Robert Jenrick – seen by many as the frontrunner – said the party must be ‘honest’ about its legacy, including the failure to bring down inflows and ‘Stop the Boats’. 

The former home secretary opened up about his childhood and his wife Suzie’s battle with breast cancer as he addressed the Conservative faithful in Birmingham. 

And he was very blunt that he would not entertain any deals with Nigel Farage and Reform to try to win back rightwing former supporters who defected at the election.

Tom Tugendhat had earlier  insisted he can be the next PM today as the final four Tory leader made their big pitches to the party faithful 

Kemi Badenoch is seen as the favourite to win

James Cleverly urged Tory members to give ‘a mixed race boy from Lewisham’ a shot at becoming prime minister today as he made his pitch to become party leader.

The former home secretary opened up about his childhood and his wife Susie’s battle with breast cancer as he addressed the Conservative faithful in Birmingham.

And he was very blunt that he would not entertain any deals with Nigel Farage and Reform to try to win back rightwing former supporters who defected at the election.

He attacked Reform as a ‘pale imitation’ of the Tories and demanded they were ‘authentic’ in order to beat Labour again. 

He was applauded as he repeated his backing for stamp duty to be abolished – and when he mentioned his love of Warhammer figurines.

And he joined fellow candidate Tom Tugendhat in attacking frontrunner Robert Jenrick over immigration. The former home secretary pointly said he did not ‘walk away’ when the job got tough, a reference to Mr Jenrick resigning as immigration minister earlier this year.

Mr Cleverly has spoken about his wife’s battle with breast cancer, which left his children ‘distraught’.

In a speech to the Tory Party conference, he said: ‘As you know, my wife Susie recently battled with breast cancer, and when we found out she had cancer, it rocked our lives.

‘I could hardly speak, our boys were distraught, but because of the amazing professionals, the doctors and the nurses of the NHS, her life was saved.

‘So to all those in the NHS, I say, thank you.’   

It came after Tom Tugendhat insisted he can be the next PM, asking activists whether they were choosing for ‘opposition’ or Downing Street.

Speaking seemingly without notes as he stalked the stage, Mr Tugendhat said he could ‘feel the hope’ that there is a ‘way back’ into power. 

‘I’ve had enough of Westminster’s games and petty point-scoring,’ Mr Tugendhat said in an apparent swipe at his rivals. 

‘I’m standing to lead not just this party but to become the next Conservative PM of this great country.’ 

Talking up his record of serving in the army, Mr Tugendhat said he would recover the voters the Tories had lost to Reform, the Lib Dems and Labour. 

‘If you stayed at home I want to make you proud to vote Conservative again,’ he insisted. 

He joked that even prolific Labour donor Lord Alli could not ‘afford Labour’, saying Keir Starmer was heading the most ‘venal’ administration in decades. 

He argued that Sir Keir’s mandate was already ‘evaporating’ and the Conservatives must be ready with ‘patriotism and purpose’.

‘My mission is to win the next general election and I have never failed a mission yet,’ he said. 

Mr Tugendhat pointed to his support for a 100,000 cap on net immigration, but cautioned that tax cuts had to be grounded in a wider strategy.

In another dig at his fellow contenders,, Mr Tugendhat said: ‘My opponents claim that they’ve got more management around the Cabinet table… but I’m not here to manage, I’m here to lead.’ 

He also vowed support for Israel after Iranian missile strikes overnight. 

‘In the face of aggression or when our freedoms are threatened I will always remember my pledge to keep the country safe,’ he said. 

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick are seen as the front runners after topping the ballot of MPs. But Ms Badenoch has been struggling to quell a spat over suggesting maternity pay is ‘excessive’.

And Mr Jenrick is facing a furious backlash from his rivals over a campaign video in which he claimed British forces were killing terrorists rather than capturing them to dodge European human rights rules.

Mr Tugendhat retorted that Mr Jenrick ‘knows nothing’ about sensitive military issues.

He dramatically revealed last night that the video included footage featured a soldier he served with in the army, who has since died.

Speaking to Newsnight, the former security minister said: ‘What’s particularly upsetting is that video is using a piece of footage of some of the people I served with, one of whom died shortly after that film was taken in an accident.’

He said that the soldier was ‘not able to defend himself from the accusation which is effectively being levelled against him’.

Mr Jenrick was using the clip to underscore his argument that the UK must leave the European Court of Human Rights.

Speaking seemingly without notes as he stalked the stage, Mr Tugendhat said he could ‘feel the hope’ that there is a ‘way back’ into power

Enthusiastic Tory activists in the conference hall in Birmingham yesterday

In the video Mr Jenrick said: ‘Our special forces are killing, rather than capturing terrorists because our lawyers tell us if they are caught the European Court will set them free.’

Shadow home secretary James Cleverly is the fourth contender to succeed Rishi Sunak – who has already fled the conference after making a brief apology for his election drubbing in July. 

Mr Cleverly has been calling for stamp duty to be axed and will urge the party not to look so ‘grumpy’ in his speech this morning. 

Next week, Tory MPs will whittle the field down to two before Conservative activists make their final choice, with the result due to be announced on November 2.

A YouGov survey yesterday suggested that the commanding lead enjoyed by Ms Badenoch among Tory activists has tightened dramatically. 

The poll for Sky News found that the former business secretary is now just four points ahead of Mr Jenrick, down from 18 points in July.

Mr Jenrick will use his speech today to confirm he would take Britain out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to finally end the small boats crisis and undermine the appeal of Reform, whose success in picking up the votes of disaffected Tories helped drive the party to its worst defeat in history.

Mr Jenrick will call for the Tories to be rebuilt as the ‘New Conservatives’ as Tony Blair did with New Labour in the 1990s.

‘The truth is this,’ he will say. ‘If we’re to tackle the immense challenges we face, if we’re to restore the public’s trust, we must build something new.

‘Nothing less than, a New Conservative Party, built on the rock of our oldest values and best traditions.’

He will identify five issues on which the party must ‘take a stand, including ‘rejecting mass migration’, focusing on ‘cheap reliable energy’, getting Britain building again and ‘building a small state that works, not a big state that fails.’

Former business secretary Kemi Badenoch will also focus on slashing the role of the state, saying it is time to dismantle the ‘bureaucratic class’ she says has paralysed Britain. 

She will warn that the Tories failed to unpick the ‘Blair-Brown framework of ever-increasing social, economic and legal control’, saying: ‘The truth is the Left never left.’

Mrs Badenoch will also launch a defence of wealth creation and promise a renewed focus on removing the barriers to growth and celebrating entrepreneurship.

Mr Tugendhat arriving at the conference centre to deliver his crunch speech today  

‘The Conservatives have to be the party of wealth creation,’ she will say. ‘Wealth is not a dirty word. It supports jobs and families. It pays for our schools, for our health service. We should encourage it.’

Mr Tugendhat will make a wider appeal to disaffected Tory supporters who deserted the party at the last election, vowing to make them ‘proud to vote Conservative again’.

‘If you went to Reform. I want to show you the Conservative values we share,’ he will say. ‘If you went to the Lib Dems. I want you to see the opportunities only we can deliver. If you went to Labour. I want to show you why freedom, not state control, is how we build.’