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Conservative leader Rishi Sunak is on Sunday expected to warn his party to end its internal feuding before promptly leaving the Tory conference to its main focus: the four candidates vying to succeed him.
In one of the strangest rallies in recent British political history, Sunak will make only a brief appearance at the four-day gathering in Birmingham before heading back to London on Sunday night.
The rest of the conference will become an audition for the four prospective Tory leaders, with former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss also likely to capture the headlines offstage.
Sunak, who was ejected from Downing Street on July 5 after Labour’s landslide election victory, will not even give a speech on the main conference stage. He will instead address a lower-key meeting with party members.
The Tory leader will thank members and defend the party’s 14-year record in office, but allies say he is also expected to urge members to rally behind whoever emerges as the next party leader.
“Most Tory strategists will tell you that one of the things that hurt us most at the election in voters’ minds was disunity and party division,” said one ally of Sunak, who expected his remarks to focus on “a call for party unity”.
Sunak wants to swiftly clear the stage for the four leadership candidates: former immigration minister Robert Jenrick; former business secretary Kemi Badenoch; former foreign secretary James Cleverly; and former security minister Tom Tugendhat.
Tory officials say that 1,500 more members are attending the conference than last year, with many hoping to make a judgment on who should succeed Sunak on November 2.
All four candidates will tour various fringe meetings, but the greatest attention will be focused on a number of set piece events on the conference stage.
On Monday, Badenoch and Tugendhat will each participate in a question-and-answer session on the main stage — fielding questions from the audience — with Jenrick and Cleverly taking part in the same event on Tuesday.
The four candidates will then make a direct pitch to Tory MPs and members on Wednesday with set piece speeches lasting up to 20 minutes.
It was at this event in 2005 that rookie David Cameron electrified the audience with an impassioned speech delivered without notes. He subsequently went on to beat the favourite, David Davis, to become Tory leader.
Jenrick has accused Tory HQ of offering candidates only a “cursory” 20-minute slot to make their speech, telling the Financial Times there was a risk of the contest being “dumbed down”.
But a Conservative spokesman countered that Cameron’s politically transformative speech only lasted 18 minutes.
Jenrick is the bookmakers’ strong favourite to win the contest, under which MPs will whittle the field down in early October to a shortlist of two candidates, who will be presented to members to make the final choice before a winner is announced on November 2.
Badenoch is regarded as the most likely to make the final run-off with Jenrick, who has made a strong pitch to the right of the party, with Cleverly and Tugendhat viewed as outsiders.
Meanwhile better-known Tories are likely to make waves during the gathering. Johnson is currently promoting his memoirs, Unleashed, and is likely to use the book to settle some old scores.
Truss will also be in Birmingham on Monday, dispensing advice on how to grow the economy. Her fringe meeting is likely to be one of the best-attended events.
Tory officials deny there has been a big drop-off in interest from corporate Britain now that the party is in opposition and has yet to choose its next leader, but executives are split on whether to attend. Some are sending more junior colleagues instead.
Even a senior Tory official predicted last month that the “business day” would be a “total flop”. One senior executive, asked by the FT if they would attend, replied: “I am washing my hair.”
Business ticket sales have held up in part because most were bought before the election: One executive said they were only attending because tickets are non-refundable. “Next year could see a big drop,” warned one senior lobbyist.
Seats at Monday’s business dinner — normally a sellout — were still being offered to businesses this month for about £375, according to an email seen by the FT.
But many others will attend, as they did Labour’s when it was in opposition, believing it was important to maintain relationships with both parties.
Pointing to Labour’s troubled few weeks, one lobbyist said: “You never know, it could be a one-term government after all.”
Corporate sponsors for Monday’s business day include Mastercard, Phoenix, Bloomberg and the BVCA private equity industry group.
A Conservative party spokesman said: “We have already seen significant interest in this, with high demand for tickets and partnerships and a full exhibition hall. Business Day partnerships in particular are already significantly up on last year’s conference.”
Additional reporting by Philip Georgiadis