“Reform just shout that we should ‘leave’ the ECHR without any plan to do so or understanding any of the consequences,” a measured Kemi Badenoch told Tory members in Manchester.

As opposed to last week’s often farcical aspersions espoused by Labour Cabinet Ministers, the Leader of the Opposition kick-started her first conference speech by trying to get a foothold on the biggest political debate of our times: immigration.

“They are practising that old, failed politics I talked about,” Mrs Badenoch added. “That politics of announcements without a plan. That’s the way to chaos and failure.”

Mrs Badenoch’s criticisms certainly have some merit. By Nigel Farage’s own admission, Reform UK is lacking key Establishment figures needed to govern, particularly when it comes to the legal intricacies of the European Convention on Human Rights.

But Mrs Badenoch faces one huge problem. She has been kept trapped in a soundproof room. Outside of the main arena, one veteran conference-goer asked: “Was Kemi speaking?”

Mr Farage even joked: “More people have joined Reform in the past 24 hours than were in the room for Kemi’s conference speech.”

It was Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, Mrs Badenoch’s rival in the 2024 Tory leadership contest, who stole the hearts of the Conservative Party’s feeble grassroots early on.

A huge crowd gathered during Mrs Badenoch’s speech at the Centre for Policy Studies’ fringe tent, with around a dozen more rushing to the back of the Manchester Centre ahead of his delayed appearance.

Meanwhile, Mrs Badenoch attracted some attention outside of the conference hall as she made her way back to the Midland Hotel, but it pains in comparison to the fanfare Mr Farage attracted in Birmingham last month.

When it comes to the Tories’ social media campaign, Mrs Badenoch was yet again caught lacking. Just over 7,000 tuned in to listen to the North West Essex MP on X.

Meanwhile, the social media platform was mobbed by almost 90,000 viewers when Mr Farage delivered his keynote speech on September 5.

And this isn’t just some Twitter bubble phenomenon. Polling conducted by Merlin Strategy found that Reform UK is the most trusted party to stop the boats.

More than one-in-three Britons – 35 per cent – said Reform UK was best-placed to end the Channel crossing crisis, with Labour in second-place on 18 per cent.

The Tories could not even secure third place, missing out on bronze to the almost concerning “don’t know” option by just two points to plummet down to 15 per cent.

The problem is best exemplified, perhaps ironically, by Sir Keir Starmer. “That opportunity for change is what this election is about,” Sir Keir said on the campaign trail.

When it comes to the small boat crisis, the exact issue Mrs Badenoch opted to open her maiden conference as leader on, the call for change leaves the Tories in the dark.

The public is all too aware that more than two-thirds of Channel crossings – 129,483 out of a total of 186,976 – were made while the Conservative Party was in power.

And that’s not to mention how difficult it is to shake the ghost of Liz Truss’s economic turmoil.

But Mrs Badenoch has become convinced that voters will be willing to forgive the Conservatives in the coming months, with the Tories eyeing up next year’s elections as a real make-or-break moment.

Whether it is “14 years of Conservative chaos” or the migrant crisis, the Tories are currently fighting in a disunited skirmish against three factions battling it out along the same fault lines.

For Mr Farage and Reform UK, leaving the ECHR might just yet be the best example.

While the Tories had at least eight years to unshackle Britain from the Strasbourg convention, Mr Farage was calling for separation well before it became fashionable.

However, where Mrs Badenoch was perhaps able to land a blow was in her attempt to rise above the mud-slinging tone that has gripped our politics over the past few weeks.

She said: “Both Labour and Reform are shouting at one another, trading insults instead of solutions.

“One flings around the word racist and will not be realistic about what is going wrong. The other whips up outrage, offering simplistic answers that fall apart on first contact with reality.

“That is not serious politics. Conference, neither offers the leadership Britain deserves. The truth is that Labour and Reform are two sides of the same coin.”

It is certainly true that people do not enjoy the childish insult-hurling.

But Conservative MPs will have to wait and see if Mrs Badenoch is capable of delivering a curtain-closing speech capable of sending a wrecking ball through Britain’s turquoise and scarlet walls.

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