Journalist Beth Rigby dissected Rishi Sunak’s conference speech, saying the chancellor clearly has “an eye on becoming the Conservative leader”. Mr Sunak gave his first speech as Chancellor to party members on Monday morning, talking about how Brexit is in the “long-term” interests of the UK despite current disruption to the supply chains.

       She continued: “He said to the conference hall, ‘we need to fix our public finances'.

       “He talked about national debt being almost 100 percent of GDP, and he said, ‘recovery comes at a cost’.

       “So a big focus there I think from that Chancellor on ‘yes we're spending to get out of recovery, but we have to be careful with the public finances’.

       “And in the speech, he kind of drew the division between Labour and the conservatives but keen Number 10 Number 11 watchers would also note the dividing line there between a Prime Minister who likes big projects, big-spending, bold initiatives, and a chancellor who wants to watch the spending.”

       Speaking to party members, Rishi Sunak said he was "proud" to have supported Brexit.

       He also announced more funding for research into artificial intelligence.

       He added that "despite the challenges", it would also lead to a "culture of enterprise" and a "willingness to take risks".

       The speech came against a backdrop of rising food and energy prices, alongside cuts to universal credit benefits.