Kemi Badenoch has claimed her conference is “teeming” with activists despite scores of empty seats in the main hall and a slew of high-profile no-shows.
The Tory leader insisted the Conservatives are having “a very good conference” as Reform UK unveiled a steady flow of councillors defecting from the party.
Ms Badenoch told the BBC that party members had been “thrilled” with the policies put forward at the annual gathering in Manchester, including leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and slashing £47 billion in public spending.
And she denied claims that the conference lacked the energy and attendance figures of previous years, saying she had been singing Sweet Caroline with “really excited” young Conservatives late on Monday.
But a slew of high-profile Tories have shunned the conference, with no-shows from former PM Liz Truss and ex-cabinet ministers Suella Braverman and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who attended Reform’s gathering in Birmingham last month.
And Reform sought to derail the Conservatives’ day by announcing at least 13 Tory councillors who have defected to Nigel Farage’s party.
Ms Badenoch said: “I think that we’ve been having a very good conference. It was a tough defeat that we had at the last election but we are showing people the direction that I’m taking the party.”
This year’s conference has been a ghost town compared to previous years, with punters being quickly served at the hotel bars and none of the usual queues at food stalls. There are far fewer stands in the exhibition centre and the main conference hall is often half empty for speeches by shadow cabinet ministers.
Ms Badenoch insisted this was not a problem, saying: “A lot of the people who came just because we were in government, the corporate lobbyists, yes, they’re not there, but our members are here.
“This is one of the first conferences I’ve been to where it has really felt like the members owned it, and I’m really proud of that.”
But the conference has been overshadowed by both questions about her leadership and the spectre of Reform UK, which continues to enjoy a significant lead in the polls.
As Ms Badenoch began a round of media interviews on Tuesday morning, Mr Farage’s party timed its stream of defection announcements to take the spotlight off her.
It follows a call from Conservative frontbencher Andrew Rosindell for an electoral pact with Reform.
And a YouGov poll published on Monday suggested that half of Tory members thought Ms Badenoch was the wrong person to lead the party into the next general election.
But speaking to Times Radio, she insisted she was the right person for the job.
She said: “We need to turn our country around, and we’re the only party that can deliver that stronger economy and stronger borders that this conference is about.
“If I thought someone else could do it, then I’d be taking a step back. I think that I’m the right person and I’m the best person.”
She again ruled out an alliance with Reform, saying there is “no deal to be done”, and brushed off the council defections, telling ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “It’s going to be a long journey back from a historic defeat and on very long, difficult journeys you will lose some people on the way.”
Ms Badenoch said: “Just last year, we had MPs jumping to Labour because Labour was doing well in the polls. They’re not doing so well now.
“There are some people who will leave because all they want to do is win elections. They don’t know what they’re winning the elections for.”
Ms Badenoch acknowledged that her plan to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) would not be straightforward.
“The difference between Conservatives and a party like Reform is that we recognise there will be difficulties,” she told BBC’s Today.
“We’re not going to pretend that this is all going to be easy and it’ll get done in an afternoon, and we move on with our lives. We are being honest.”
She accepted that leaving the ECHR could jeopardise the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU but said it did not necessarily mean the agreement would be scrapped.
She said the Trade and Co-operation Agreement could be terminated at any time already, something which could happen “irrespective of leaving the ECHR”.
“We do not need to be in the ECHR for that agreement to continue. It’s just one extra ground which they could use if they chose to do so,” she said.
Later on Tuesday, the conference is expected to hear from shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick – Ms Badenoch’s opponent in last year’s leadership contest and, YouGov’s poll suggested, party members’ top pick to replace her.
He will call for significant reforms to judicial appointments, claiming he has “uncovered a hidden network of activist judges with links to open border campaigns” and arguing a “deep rot has infected parts of our judiciary”.
