Rishi Sunak arrives in Birmingham for Conservative Party conference

Rishi Sunak arrived in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon with his wife, Akshata Murty, for the Conservative Party Conference, marking the first gathering since the party's significant defeat in the July general election. The conference is set to focus on the leadership contest to find Sunak's successor, with candidates Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, and Tom Tugendhat participating in various events and discussions throughout the week. A senior party source described the leadership bids as 'lacklustre and ponderous', raising concerns about the effectiveness of the candidates' campaigns. Former Prime Minister Theresa May highlighted the party's failure to recognize the threat posed by the Liberal Democrats and criticized the focus on appeasing potential Reform voters. She emphasized that the Conservatives lost their reputation for integrity and competence, attributing this decline to the Partygate scandal and Liz Truss's mini-budget. May's comments suggest that the leadership candidates must address these issues to regain public trust. Immigration has emerged as a central theme in the leadership race, particularly for frontrunner Robert Jenrick, who argues that the party's defeat stemmed from not fulfilling promises on this issue. Jenrick aims to 'put Nigel Farage out of business' and insists that the party must prioritize controlled immigration to appeal to conservative voters. Meanwhile, Badenoch accused Jenrick's campaign of engaging in 'dirty tricks' to undermine her candidacy, a claim that Jenrick's team has denied. The conference will culminate in a ballot of party members, with the final two candidates announced on November 2. The outcome of this leadership contest will be crucial for the future direction of the Conservative Party as it seeks to recover from its recent electoral setbacks.