Rishi Sunak apologised to Tory members for the general election horror show today as the outgoing leader made a fleeting appearance at Conservative Party Conference.
Mr Sunak said he ‘sorry was your efforts could not deliver the results you deserved’ as he met activists in Birmingham this afternoon.
The reception was one of the few events the party leader is expected to make at at event that is acting as a beauty pageant for members to choose his successor.
But he used the event to try to go out swinging, with a jibe at Labour over its current freebies row involving donor and peer Lord Alli.
Mr Sunak joked that Tory conference was such a ‘hot ticket’ he was surprised the Labour leader ‘hasn’t asked someone to buy it for him’.
‘We know that socialists always run out of other people’s money – something something Lord Alli is finding out the hard way.’
The former PM, who led the Conservatives to their worst ever general election result in July, is making a fleeting appearance in the Midlands.
Following the welcome reception with party members late this afternoon, Mr Sunak is not expected to be seen again at the four-day gathering that ends on Wednesday.
He concluded his conference speech with a call for the Tories to cease infighting and a warning it could lose them future elections.
In his final speech to party members, the Conservative leader said: ‘I do want to finish with a final ask of all of you.
‘Whoever wins this contest, give them your backing.’
He added: ‘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 Tory conference is instead set to be a prolonged audition for those hoping to replace him; Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Robert Jenrick and Tom Tugendhat.
In an article for The House magazine, Mr Sunak said he would ‘always be sorry’ about the election result, which saw the Conservatives toppled after 14 years in power.
‘This year has been a difficult one for the Conservative Party,’ he wrote.
‘We have had disappointing election results both nationally and locally. Too many good Conservatives have lost their seats.’
But Mr Sunak, who will remain Tory leader until his replacement is chosen on 2 November, insisted the party ‘can and will deliver for out country once more’.
He added: ‘This conference will be an important moment for our party. Our leadership candidates will get to make their case directly to our members.
‘I have sat round the Cabinet table with all four candidates and know that they are good Conservatives, determined to stand up for our values.
‘I know that they will take this chance to tell our members where they want to take our party and our country.
‘This is our first conference in opposition since 2009.
‘Of course, we need to learn the lessons of our defeat: we did not get everything right in government – no government ever does – and we do now need to reflect on that.
‘But we should not forget what we have achieved since 2010.’
Mr Sunak hit back at Labour’s claims they have been handed a ‘dire’ economic inheritance from the Tories.
‘The last Labour government left us a note saying there is no money left,’ he wrote.
‘We left behind the fastest growing economy in the G7, inflation under control, interest rates coming down and education reforms that have made our children the best readers in the Western world.’
Amid the Tories’ fifth leadership contest since the EU referendum in 2016, Mr Sunak urged MPs and party members to unite behind the winning candidate.
‘We, the Conservative Party, are a family and, once this contest is over, we must come together to support our new leader,’ he added.
‘This will be my last conference as leader, and I want to thank everyone in the party for their support.
‘I will always be sorry that I could not deliver the results that everyone’s efforts deserved, but I will always be grateful for everyone’s hard work and commitment.’