This footage was filmed and produced 1 October 2023.

The Conservatives will enter the next general election as the “underdogs”, the party’s chairman has said.

Kicking off speeches on the main stage at the Tory conference on Sunday, Greg Hands said: “This is likely to be a general election where the Conservatives enter as the underdogs."

“I know in recent years you will have had difficult conversations with voters, I certainly have."

“But I would say just three things about those conversations. First, every single conversation I’ve had on the doorstep has been improved by the mention of Rishi Sunak and the job that he does as our Prime Minister.

“Second, that there is no enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer and even less trust in him. And third, that wherever Labour runs something in the country, they run it badly.”

Mr Hands also accused Sir Keir of being a “man who will literally say anything that suits him at that time”, before showing the audience a pair of flip-flops featuring the Labour leader.