Liz Truss says none of the four leadership candidates have yet properly acknowledged how bad things are and how much change is needed, declining to back any of them.

She says she wants to hear candidates back fracking, scrap the HRA, reverse the equality act and Blair’s other constitutional changes eg the Supreme Court

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss had a pop at Rishi Sunak, arguing the Tories could have won the election had she stayed.

But she says the really “stupid move” was removing Boris Johnson, and says too many Tory MPs haven’t yet reckoned with that.

Nigel Farage‘s Reform Party is the reason Liz Truss lost her seat, the former Prime Minister has said.

She said: “That’s what happened to us in many similar seats. Reform did so well that they split the vote and let Labour In. I don’t think the people of South West Norfolk consciously want a Labour MP.

“Why did people vote Labour? They voted Labour because they were fed up we didn’t deliver.

“I still think it is the case that the public have more power than they actually do. My contention is even though Starmer and reeves are in power, Andrew Bailey, the OBR, the climate committee, the powerful bureaucracy, things aren’t going to change that much.”

Liz Truss hits back at Theresa May’s criticism of her.

She said: “I don’t know what to say about 2017 election and our policy on social care… I’m not going to get into a slanging match with Theresa May.”

She added: “Theresa May, along with many others in the conservatives, is part of the establishment.

“The new divide in British politics is between the establishment and those who want radical change in our country”

Conservative leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch has said that people are “scared to have families”.

Ms Badenoch was asked about birth rates at an event with the Conservative Women’s Organisation during the Tory conference.

She said: “I think that there are things that we have to do to make sure that we make life comfortable for those people who are… starting families,” listing examples such as maternity pay, childcare provision and housing.

“A lot of people have fewer children because they start having children later,” she said.

“And so they just can’t have as many as perhaps they might have liked. Some people feel that they can’t afford children, I often think that too many people are worried about the money more than they need to be.

“But we need to give people confidence. People are scared to have families, they’re worried about whether they can afford them, they’re worried about whether they will have birth trauma.”

She said that people “need to talk about families like… the amazing thing that they are, that having a family is probably the most meaningful thing that any of us are ever going to do”.

Ms Badenoch added: “We should find a way to make life easier for those who are starting families and not act like families are an inconvenience.”

Liz Truss slams Rachel Reeves’ plans to take £50billion off the ballot sheet to disguise extra spending.

She warns that Conservatives wont succeed until we get rid of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), who have consistently got their sums wrong.

Nondom taxes will cost the country money, contrary to the OBR claiming it would bring in £2.3bn.

She also points to their forecast that cutting immigration would harm our economy, and now say that low skilled immigration isn’t helping the economy.

She says it’s not enough to criticise Labour but must attack the state institutions behind the prevailing orthodoxy.

Liz Truss said there is just one thing Labour has announced since coming to power that she agrees with – decriminalising the TV licence.

Speaking at the Tory Party Conference, she said their growth agenda is worse than the tories on housing and the environment.

Liz Truss said: “Labour are accelerating the socialist policies of the previous Conservative government.

“The past 14 years have transformed GB into a European-style economy. We failed to take on the Blair/Brown statist consensus. Country is moving in the wrong direction.”

The Tories need to stop “behaving like bloody children” in order to win back voters, James Cleverly has said.

Jacob Rees-Mogg described Nigel Farage as the biggest name on the Right of politics in Parliament at the moment.

He made the comments as he called on the Tories to make a deal with Reform ahead of the next election.

The ex-Conservative MP said: “So be generous, come to some arrangement, recognise that the biggest political figure on the right in Parliament at the moment, and I add that qualification not because of me but because of somebody who thinks he’s Cincinnatus – and you know who I mean – is Nigel.

“We cannot do something without having some respect for the importance Nigel has played in British politics.”

Jacob Rees-Mogg called on the Tories to make a “generous” offer to Nigel Farage‘s Reform at the next election.

Referring to 98 seats where Reform came second to Labour in July’s ballot, he said: “What if we were to say at the next election we will not oppose Reform in those 98 seats.

“I would certainly be open to that as a real opportunity for Reform to win seats from Labour.

“It would be good for the Conservative Party, because whisper it quietly David Cameron’s reforms of the candidates were designed to stop people like me getting in and to have people who were in some cases slightly pinkos in the party.

“If we’ve got 98 people who actually were wearing the Reform light blue it might make the Conservative Party a bit more Conservative and I don’t think that would be a bad thing.

“It would help us, it would help them, and we will not win if we do not reunite.

“Just think how unpopular Labour already is. We could get to 2029 and you could find you get a Labour-Lib Dem coalition who then want to put in proportional representation and all that sort of junk, making it harder than ever for us to get back.

“So be generous to Reform, don’t blame them for defeat because it was our fault, it was a made in the Conservative Party defeat, not Reform stole our votes.

“You cannot steal people’s votes, you’ve got to win them and just because they’ve voted for you before it doesn’t mean those votes belong to you.”

Former Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg made a jibe at Sir Keir Starmer amid the row over thousands of pounds of clothing donations from Labour donor Lord Alli.

He told a fringe event at the Tory conference: “We are dealing with Sir Ditchwater, the most exciting thing about him is that Lord Alli pays for his suits.

“That’s where you want to have somebody a bit more exciting because then you reveal his flaws, his limitations, his incapacities.

“If we were up against Angela Rayner then you might say wouldn’t it be sensible to have someone a bit boring because she is charismatic, interesting personality, a really rather remarkable woman in many ways.

“If it were her yes then have the counter to that, but against Sir Ditchwater let’s have someone that isn’t ditchwater too.”

Speaking at a Popular Conservatism fringe event, former Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “I don’t think the campaign has been very exciting so far, I don’t think they used the summer to set the world on fire.

“I think this week will be interesting. We need somebody who is conservative, who will remain conservative when elected and won’t just tack to being conservative for the benefit of this election.

“We need somebody who is charismatic because you win elections on charisma as Boris showed us.

“You need somebody who is intelligent, the problems of government are complex and you need somebody who can think these things through.

“I think we have that in all of the candidates to different degrees and to some extent I wish we could have an amalgam of them that would bring all of that together.”

Referring to Boris Johnson, he added: “It just occurs to me there may be somebody living quietly in Oxfordshire, who’s just written a memoir, whose name is something like Cincinnatus, he’s working at the plough, but charismatic yes, intelligent yes, a proper conservative pretty much.

“That’s the sort of personality that we need to get in a leader and I hope that one of the four remaining will step up to that particular position.”

Express reporter Christian Calgie is attending former Prime Minster Liz Truss’s only Tory Conference speech.

More live updates from the packed event will follow soon.

Tory Party Conference attendees have a range of leadership contenders’ merchandise available to them to sport in coming days.

Lanyards, caps, sweets, reusable flasks and tote bags are among the bits on offer.

Michael Gove has refused to ndorse a candidate in the Conservative leadership race.

The former cabinet minister, who will take up the editorship of the Spectator, said his support would be “a blight on their prospects”.

Asked whether he would back a candidate, he told a fringe event: “I won’t endorse a candidate because my endorsement would be a blight on their prospects.

“So I don’t want to burden any of them.”

Speaking at a Popular Conservatism fringe event, former Brexit minister Lord Frost said: “A lot of members clearly went to Reform or just gave up being involved in the party.

“The reason I worry is it seems to me for the first time in a very, very long time the party in the country is beginning to break down and some of the instinctual loyalties are beginning to break down.

“If we create conditions for more of that to happen the party could easily just disappear. It doesn’t have a right to exist, it’s got to stand for something and we’ve come very close to not standing for anything.”

Michael Gove has ruled himself out of a future bid to become mayor of London.

Asked whether he would stand to replace Labour’s Sadiq Khan, the Conservative former levelling-up secretary replied: “No.”

The audience at a Conservative Party conference fringe event on Monday shouted “go on” and “yes” as he replied.

“No, you need someone much younger, much more effective and much better looking than me,” Mr Gove added.

He also declined to endorse one of the four Conservative Party leadership candidates.

“I won’t endorse a candidate because my endorsement will be a blight on the prospects,” Mr Gove joked.

Sir Winston Churchill would be “turning in his grave” if he knew how his European convention on human rights (ECHR) had been twisted to protect terrorists, murderers, rapists and paedophiles, Robert Jenrick said.

Speaking at a rally at the Tory conference in Birmingham, the former immigration minister and contender for the party leadership repeated his pledge to take the UK out of the ECHR if he was elected Prime Minister “as soon as possible.”

KemiBadenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat are vying to replace Rishi Sunak and are seeking the support from MPs and members at the Tory conference this week in Birmingham.

leadership contender Ms Badenoch said that “of course” she believes in maternity pay after she faced a backlash – including from other leadership candidates – for comments she made on the radio.

Mrs Badenoch, the shadow communities secretary appeared to describe statutory maternity pay as “a function of tax”, and said: “Tax comes from people who are working – we’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive.”

She later wrote on social media: “Contrary to what some have said, I clearly said the burden of regulation on businesses had gone too far … of course I believe in maternity pay!”

Former chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady said the Tories may have held more seats had Rishi Sunak called the election later.

“There are an awful lot of seats where a pretty small shift would have made the difference,” he told The Daily T’s Kamal Ahmed and Gordon Rayner.

“It’s painful to look at results where you think the tiniest thing might have made a difference.”

Robert Jenrick said he wants to “get migration done” so that politicians can talk about other issues.

The former immigration minister told reporters after a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference that if he were Tory leader and the party came back to government, he would leave the ECHR as soon as possible without a referendum.

The leadership hopeful said he did not accept that his stance on leaving the ECHR would split his party.

Mr Jenrick is advocating for a cap on legal migration in the tens of thousands or fewer and for a stronger version of the Rwanda policy.

“If we have that cap, then we can stop talking about migration. I want to get migration done. This is a running sore in British politics.

“It’s important that we settle this by having serious answers to these challenges. Then we can talk about all the other issues that the public wants us to be discussing, like the economy and the NHS.”

A survey of members of the Popular Conservative group has revealed their pick for the next chairman of the party.

Members were asked to suggest names and the group reveals that the two most popular options were Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lord David Frost.

A Tory member has told the debate hall that it’s time to “unsmear” Enoch Powell’s reputation and legacy, in a controversial moment from the conference.

The Tories brought back members’ debates for the first time in decades this year, having originally been scrapped in part to avoid members saying controversial things that will reflect badly on the party.

The grassroots Popular Conservatives group has released a new survey naming Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg and Lord Frost as favourites to become Conservative Party chairman.

Jeremy Hunt said he was concerned that Labour’s messaging on the economy could put people and businesses off from investing in British firms.

The shadow chancellor said: “My worry is that Labour believes its own propaganda and starts taking a whole series of decisions, particularly on things like Capital Gains Tax, which have a massive impact on deterring the investment in the economy that we really need.”

He added: “Even the Labour Party don’t believe it, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this massive row over the winter fuel allowance.”

Speaking on the main stage of the Conservative Party Conference, he later said: “When it comes to the big decisions, we need to secure our economic growth, I think people are beginning to wonder whether Labour actually has a plan at all, because we’ve had absolutely nothing in the 12 weeks that they’ve been in office.”

The ECHR is a “leave or die” issue for the Tories, Robert Jenrick told a rally at the Conservative Party conference.

“This is more than just ‘leave or amend’: frankly, our party doesn’t have a future unless we take a stand and fix this problem.

“It’s leave or die for our party – I’m for leave,” the Tory leadership candidate said.

He called for the party conference to become the “crucible of conservatism”.

“Let’s use this opportunity to settle this issue once and for all, and for our party to have the answer to one of the biggest challenges facing our country.

“Let’s leave the ECHR and let’s get this done.”

Shadow chancellor Jeremy Hunt claims Labour could have a budget surplus of £39bn rather than the £22bn blackhole it claims it has inherited from the Tories.

Speaking on the second day of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, Mr Hunt was asked whether he agreed with the Government’s belief that the economic picture will worsen before it improves.

He said: “They will get worse if Labour makes catastrophic mistakes in the budget and hikes up tax in a way that destroys growth.

“I think one of the biggest lies we’ve had since Labour came to office is this nonsense about having the worst economic inheritance since the Second World War.”

Mr Hunt said no independent economist has supported the Treasury and Government’s view on the economic outlook.

He added: “You don’t have to take my word for it, I mean just read this week’s Economist where there’s an article saying that (Reeves) could have actually not have a black hole of £22 billion but a surplus of £39 billion.”

Outgoing leader Mr Sunak also called for unity when he addressed members at a reception last night, and warned that the Tories will face further defeats if they do not unite after the leadership contest.

He said: “We must end the division, the backbiting, the squabbling. We must not nurse old grudges but build new friendships.

“We must always remember what unites us rather than obsess over where we might differ, because when we turn in on ourselves we lose and the country ends up with a Labour Government.”

The new leader is due to be announced on November 2, after the field is whittled down to two this month.

There will be no change to the timeline of the Tory leadership race to allow a new leader to be in place before the autumn budget, Richard Fuller, chairman of the Conservative Party has said.

He told BBC Breakfast: “We had this debate some months ago. I think we had a very long discussion between the voluntary party and the 1922 Committee, which represents MPs.

“The 1922 Committee wanted a longer campaign. They wanted to have four candidates here at conference.

“And the logistics of that mean that when we whittle it down to two and it goes to the members, there’s a period of time for the members to vote, and my job is to make sure that members have enough time to get their ballot papers and return their ballot papers, and that’s why we ended up with the time frame we have.”

Asked, “no change?”, Mr Fuller added: “No change.”

The chairman of the Conservative Party has urged leadership candidates to get behind the eventual winner of the contest.

Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat are vying to replace Rishi Sunak and are seeking the support from MPs and members at the Tory conference this week in Birmingham.

Richard Fuller, the interim chairman of the party, has said he, the shadow chief whip and the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs were “very clear” at the start of the contest that there should be “no blue-on-blue” attacks between the candidates and campaigns.

Speaking to Times Radio on Monday morning, Mr Fuller said: “Each of them should stop and think about… they want to lead a party, would they want all of their colleagues who are unsuccessful – should they be elected – to go off into their own corners, or would they want them to come in behind them as leader?

“And I think when they do stop and think they’ll realise that they should be all on one team.”

Boris Johnson has slammed Emmanuel Macron as a “nuisance” who was determined to “punish Brexit Britain”.

Speaking as the Conservative Party’s annual conference got underway, the former Prime Minister accused the French President of “weaponising” the ongoing small boats crisis during his time in office.

In his forthcoming book, Mr Johnson recalled suggesting, although he claims he was “improvising”, a new road link across the English Channel to link the two countries.

However, he claims Mr Macron dismissed the idea with an abrupt “non”.

In an excerpt of Mr Johnson’s Unleashed published in the Mail on Sunday, the former PM said it seemed Macron was “suddenly appalled at the idea of all those rapacious Brits swarming across a bridge to his relatively underpopulated country”.

Ms Badenoch faced criticism from other candidates after she appeared to criticise maternity pay as “excessive”.

On Times Radio, the shadow communities secretary described statutory maternity pay as “a function of tax”, and said: “Tax comes from people who are working, we’re taking from one group of people and giving to another. This, in my view, is excessive.”

She sought to clarify matters subsequently, adding:

But speaking to Sky News on Sunday evening, saying maternity pay was “a good thing” and adding: “I don’t think it is excessive.”

She claimed there was “some mischief being made on social media trying to misrepresent me.”

Two candidates for the Tory leadership are to set out their stall on the main stage of the Tory conference, as former prime minister Liz Truss also makes her headline appearance.

Tom Tugendhat and Kemi Badenoch will face questions from party members in Birmingham, while Ms Truss is expected at a fringe in-conversation event on the second day of the four-day gathering.

The Conservatives‘ last conference in Birmingham in 2022 was dominated by Tory infighting over Ms Truss’s ill-fated mini budget.

The contest to replace Rishi Sunak as leader has taken centre stage at the party’s first conference since their general election defeat.

James Cleverly and Robert Jenrick, the other two candidates, will face questions on Tuesday, before all four contenders make speeches on Wednesday before the close of the conference.

All four candidates spoke at a reception for the Conservative Friends of Israel on Sunday evening, setting out their support for the nation.

Kemi Badenoch has told Angela Rayner she will be training her sights on the Labour deputy Prime Minister as she set out her case for being the next leader of the Conservative Party.

In a speech to the annual conference, which got underway today, Ms Badenoch, who rowed back initially suggesting she believed maternity benefits needed to be stripped back, also took several swipes at opponents James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat.

She said: “We are going to get Angela Rayner, we’re going to get Rachel Reeves and we’re going to get Keir Starmer and to do that we need someone who’s going to cut through, somebody who is going to stand up to them and also face down Farage.

“Somebody who will resonate with the public. James thinks he’s the best – dream on, James. If you want change, vote for renewal, vote for Kemi.”

Stay tuned for regular updates from the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Birmingham.

This year’s event will enable all four leadership candidates – Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – to state their cases at what promises to be a lively debate.