Kemi Badenoch’s curtain-closing conference speech was certainly punchier than Sunday’s attempt to rouse morale. The Leader of the Opposition was met with rapturous rounds of applause with her Labour-attacking, Brexit-backing barbs.

It might prove enough to stave off the threat from her energy-enhancing Shadow Justice Secretary, Robert Jenrick, but for all of the talk about competency, voters haven’t forgotten what happened in the Tory Party’s final few years in power.

“They’re full of s**t,” one security guard told GB News as Mrs Badenoch set out her plan for Britain. In a damning assessment of the political landscape, the Mancunian predicted a teal tsunami would sweep the outer boroughs of the city that has hosted Tories this conference season, reducing Labour’s rump to an enclave in the centre.

The Tory Party wasn’t even in the equation. Despite winning 10 out of 27 Manchester seats in the 2019 General Election, the Tory Party is now all but extinct in England’s second city.

As Sir John Curtice pointed out at a fringe event on Sunday, voters continue to punish the Conservative Party for the mistakes made in power. “It’s a combination of a general lack of confidence, together with that, probably, you are still striking to escape the blame for what happened between 2019 and 2024.”

Net migration had soared to 906,000 in 2023, an 11.6 per cent inflation rate raided the pockets of millions of hard-working Britons, and NHS waiting times surged to almost 7.6 million in April last year.

However, voters wouldn’t know that if they tuned in for Mrs Badenoch’s speech. The Tories’ 14 years in power were instead painted out as a panacea of competency.

“We are the only party that has the vision, the courage and the competence to tear up a broken political model, deliver a new blueprint for our country, and together take Britain into an era of prosperity and security,” the pumped-up Tory leader told a packed conference hall.

And Mrs Badenoch is also taking the risky strategy of confronting Labour’s reckoning that the Tories failed to deliver for this country over its 14 years in power.

“During our time in Government, we did great things,” Mrs Badenoch said. “Labour want to pretend the last 14 years were all bad. They want to forget that they were losing all that time.”

This isn’t to say that the Tories didn’t achieve a lot in power. The most successful political party in the West has certainly changed this country, and in many ways, for the better.

Mrs Badenoch is right when she proudly says that her party is responsible for creating a modern police force, introducing free state education for every child, giving women the right to vote and helping millions own their own homes under the Right to Buy scheme.

The Tory leader is also bang on the money to talk about the major constitutional achievements, unshackling Britain from the tentacles of the European Union and taking the courageous step of introducing same-sex marriage.

However, some of the achievements touted by Mrs Badenoch have been all but wiped from the minds of ordinary people. Women had been granted the right to vote in 1928, while Robert Peel passed the legislation to create the Metropolitan Police in 1829.

Instead, YouGov found that most Britons don’t trust the Tories on any policy area, with net negative ratings on the Conservative Party’s once bread and butter topics such as managing the economy, defence and crime.

It felt like the embodiment of the Margaret Thatcher fever that has swept Manchester this year. Talking about a Britain that simply doesn’t exist for millions of voters, it’s instead just a chapter in history.

However, Mrs Badenoch’s speech today was a last-chance saloon moment, both for the Tory leader and perhaps her party more broadly. In that respect, Mrs Badenoch rose to the occasion, chucking out red meat to the Tory faithful who yearned for something akin to Mr Jenrick’s speech yesterday.

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“All they [Labour] have delivered is a doom loop of higher taxes, weaker borders and month after month of chaos,” Mrs Badenoch said. “They had a plan to win but no plan for power, no vision for Britain.”

The Tory leader is now hoping to turn her guns on Labour, vowing to rip up large swathes of legislative changes brought in during Sir Keir Starmer’s first 15 months in No10.

From the Tractor Tax to net zero, VAT on private school fees to scrapping stamp duty, Mrs Badenoch confirmed she is prepared to tear up the rule book and start again.

Quoting Margaret Thatcher, Mrs Badenoch added: “If every Labour Government is prepared to reverse every Tory measure, while Conservative Governments accept nearly all socialist measures, the end result is only too plain.” The Tory leader continued: “She was right. We must reverse Labour’s measures.”

However, in a bid to resurrect the Conservative Party’s once-firm reputation for fiscal responsibility, which had been totally kiboshed under Liz Truss, Mrs Badenoch pulled out her trump card.

“Under our Golden Rule,” Mrs Badenoch explained, “half of those savings will go towards reducing Labour’s deficit. With the rest, we are going to unleash our economy.”

However, it wasn’t just Labour who were facing fury from Mrs Badenoch. Nigel Farage was also the subject of some pointed attacks. Unlike Sir Keir’s onslaught, Mrs Badenoch is hoping to paint Mr Farage as fiscally irresponsible and wholly unprepared for power.

Be in no doubt that Mr Farage would categorically reject the first claim, but the second is slightly trickier for the Reform UK leader to shake off. By his own admission, Reform UK is searching for experienced big beasts to fill his Cabinet.

At this moment in time, however, Mrs Badenoch’s barbs will do little to nothing to halt Reform’s surge. For all the talk of competency and fiscal prudence, the public perceives Reform UK as better prepared for Government than they do for the Tories.

Merlin Strategy conducted a poll ahead of the Conservative Party Conference that found Reform UK had a runaway lead when it comes to who the public trusts to stop the boats. Meanwhile, the Tories ended up in fourth place, behind both Labour and the elusive “don’t know”.

YouGov also found that Reform UK secured a better net score compared to the Conservatives on tackling crime, supporting businesses and keeping their promises.

However, as the Conference fanfare comes to a close, Mrs Badenoch can return to North West Essex safe in the knowledge that she is in a stronger position than when she arrived in Manchester.

Mr Jenrick confirmed this week that he is downing arms, at least for now. “Kemi’s the right person to lead the party,” the one-time leadership contender said.

And after much was made of the downbeat mood in Manchester, Mrs Badenoch was forced to pause her 55-minute speech 61 times for five standing ovations. Not even the world’s tallest Tory, 22-year-old James McAlphine, could steal the show with her seven-foot frame.