Kemi Badenoch told James Cleverly to “dream on” after the shadow home secretary claimed he was the “best” of the four remaining Tory leadership candidates.

At a reception on Sunday night, Mr Cleverly declared “I would be the best leader of the party”, saying he had the most media experience and had held two great offices of state.

Mrs Badenoch, the shadow housing secretary, began her speech by saying: “Nice speeches, boys, but I think you all know I’m the one everyone’s been waiting for.”

She added: “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.”

The first day of the annual Tory conference in Birmingham was overshadowed by a row over comments made by Mrs Badenoch in which she suggested maternity pay was “excessive”.

On Monday, Mrs Badenoch, the current grassroots favourite, and her rival Tom Tugendhat will both face questions from members in the conference hall. It will be the turn of Mr Cleverly and Robert Jenrick, who has topped both ballots of MPs to date, on Tuesday.