BIG PITCH
Cleverly declared winner as Tory leadership rivals go head-to-head on borders, Net Zero and wokeism in conference battle
The final day came as Ms Badenoch risked another row
JAMES Cleverly was declared the winner of Tory conference last night after warning the party will never return to power unless they stop being so weird.
All the leadership contenders vowed to get tough on borders, woke culture and "undertaker" Sir Keir Starmer in their final campaign pitches.
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Frontrunner Robert Jenrick promised to "take a stand" on illegal migration - while rival Kemi Badenoch marked herself as a "Net Zero sceptic" as the pair jostled for true-blue voters.
But it was the ex-Home and Foreign Secretary's brutal reality check that the party needs to “be more normal” that won over the crowd - as did a swipe at the others warning "this is no time for an apprentice".
Mr Cleverly - Shadow Home Secretary - apologised on behalf of Conservative MPs for the disastrous election result.
And giving a brutal verdict on how the party needs to change said: "Let’s be enthusiastic; relatable; positive; optimistic. Let’s be more normal."
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Mr Cleverly promised to "sell the benefits of conservatism with a smile" to win back disillusioned voters who drifted to Labour, the Lib Dems and Reform.
He said: "And let's make sure they do it not holding their nose but with a spring in their step and a smile on their face."
He ruled out any pact with Nigel Farage's insurgents, who ate into the Conservative vote at the last election with devastating effect.
Newbie Tory MP Charlie Dewhirst: “This was my first conference as an MP. James absolutely smashed it. It’s been his week.”
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Tom Tugendhat opened the back-to-back addresses with a pitch that he was “not here to manage, but to lead”.
All candidates delivered 20-minute speeches to the party faithful on the last day of their annual gathering in Birmingham.
Tory leadership election is wide open - but it's Cleverly with the momentum
By Harry Cole, Political Editor
IT IS game on.
The Tories leave their party conference with the most open leadership contest in decades.
And it is James Cleverly with the big mo as the race heads back to Westminster.
After a disappointing joint fourth finish in the MPs voting earlier this month, the ex-Foreign and Home Secretary was the breakout star of the gathering here in Birmingham.
Without the gaffes that have blighted frontrunners Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, Cleverly -who the members like after a stint as party chairman ahead of the 2019 election - is coming up the outside line fast.
If you don't believe me, just look at the bookies where he is now second favourite.
After the beauty parade speeches, it is clear that the members still do have a soft spot for Badenoch, and lapped up her red meat heavy address.
But it iss still the MPs she has to worry about and is now at a very real risk of being squeezed into their place.
And if Robert Jenrick was hoping for his David Cameron moment, with a polished no notes no autocue delivery that turns the race, then he fell flat.
His speech, while heavy on the details was also heavy on the heart... a marked contrast to James Cleverly's Ronald Reagan-esque Conservatism with a smile... and the zinger of conference: a warning to the Tories that just need to stop being so weird.
Mr Jenrick walked onto the stage as the bookies' favourite, having mopped up the most Conservative MP backers so far.
He put illegal immigration at the heart of his speech, promising to "take a stand" by quitting the European Court of Human Rights.
He hit out at the "sheer scale" of arrivals and repeated his pledge to impose an “effective freeze” on through implementing an annual cap.
Mr Jenrick said: “Will we be open to the best and the brightest? Yes, absolutely.
“Will we be open to the world and its wife and all its extended family?
"No, not anymore and under my Conservative Party, never, ever again.”
Ms Badenoch is hot on his heels but has suffered a series of apparent gaffes during the four-day get-together.
Using her speech to get back on track, she declared herself a "net zero sceptic", saying: "I did not become an MP to deliver an agenda set by Ed Miliband".
The darling of the grassroots pledged to “tell the truth” about Britain where other politicians “hide behind spin”.
She blasted previous Tory administrations for setting a target "with no plan on how to meet it" just so politicians "could say we were there first".
Railing against woke culture, she fumed: "We cannot sit by as the left denigrate our history and pull down our monuments!
"We must not be afraid as we were in Batley to get involved, where a teacher was driven into hiding by Islamist thugs.
"Or when the very worst crimes were committed, when young girls were groomed and raped for years in Rotherham and Rochdale and nothing happened, because those in charge were scared of being called racists."
She also branded the UK’s legal system an “ass” for blocking decisions like deporting foreign criminals.
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Labour bashing
The candidates each tore lumps out of Labour, with Mr Jenrick delivering a brutal assessment of Sir Keir Starmer.
Calling him a “coward” and comparing him to an undertaker”,the former immigration minister slammed the PM for having “no vision” after 14 years in opposition.
He accused Sir Keir of being excessively "woke", stripping pensioners of cash while he enjoys hoards of freebies and cowering before union paymasters.
Mr Jenrick said: “Sir Keir Starmer will take the knee but he will never take a stand.
“He doesn’t even take a stand at the football anymore, he’s up there in the director’s box.
“Starmer sees a Britain fated for decline, needing more migration, more tax, more spend, more woke.”
He added: “The country needs a leader. Instead with Starmer we’ve got an undertaker."
Mr Tugendhat - Shadow Security Minister - also hit out at the "government by management consultancy" of Labour.
The Tory leadership hopeful told the party conference audience: "Our country is crying out for leadership.
"Leadership is not about empty promises, it is not about cheap rhetoric or government by management consultancy, it is not about managing decline, and it is not about talking our country down.
"Leadership is about making choices that serve our country and our people best. I promise you that as your leader I will serve our country, I will lead with conviction, I will act decisively.
Prison row
Next week Tory MPs will begin knocking out two more candidates until the final two go before the members with a result on November 2.
The final day came as Ms Badenoch risked another row after suggesting jailing thousands of civil servants.
The Tory firebrand let rip at Whitehall, telling a conference fringe event: “There's about 5 to 10% of them who are very, very bad - you know should be in prison bad - leaking official secrets, undermining their ministers, agitating. I had some of it in my department.”
The former Business Secretary added: “The trick to being a good minister is to find the good ones quickly, bring them close and try and get the bad ones out of your department as quickly as possible.”
Her latest comments came as the four contenders prepared to go back to back in 20 minute speeches to the bruised Conservative membership in Birmingham.
Mr Cleverly’s odds were shortening last night to take the Tory crown.
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The bookies have Jenrick as the favourite in the leadership race at 8/11 with the winner announced at the start of November.
Cleverly is seen as the big mover of the week in the betting stakes at 7/2 as he was 12/1 last week, Betfair said.
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