Kemi Badenoch said her singing Sweet Caroline with “very excited” young Conservatives was an example of how the Tories were having “a good conference”.
She denied criticism that the conference lacked the energy and attendance figures of previous years.
The Tory leader told the BBC that party members had been “thrilled” with the policies put forward at the annual gathering in Manchester, including leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and slashing £47 billion in public spending.
And highlighting her singing with the young members on Monday evening she said: “I think that we've been having a very good conference. It was a tough defeat that we had at the last election, but we are showing people the direction that I'm taking the party.”
A clip shared online showed her waving a Union Jack flag in a bar as younger conference delegates let their hair down.
🚨🎥 WATCH: Kemi Badenoch sings Sweet Caroline at the Tory party conferencepic.twitter.com/oydMiKFCyd
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 6, 2025
This year's conference has been slimmed down compared to previous years, with fewer stands in the exhibition centre and the main conference hall often half empty for speeches by shadow cabinet ministers. - leading to accusations from commentators that the conference is “flat”.
Mrs Badenoch insisted this was not a problem, saying: "A lot of the people who came just because we were in government, the corporate lobbyists, yes, they're not there, but our members are here.
"This is one of the first conferences I've been to where it has really felt like the members owned it, and I'm really proud of that."
But the conference has been overshadowed by both questions about her leadership and the spectre of Reform UK, which continues to enjoy a significant lead in the polls.
As Mrs Badenoch began a round of media interviews on Tuesday morning, Nigel Farage's party issued a steady stream of announcements revealing a succession of Conservative councillors defecting to Reform.
It follows a call from Conservative frontbencher Andrew Rosindell for an electoral pact with Reform.
And a YouGov poll published on Monday suggested that half of Tory members thought Mrs Badenoch was the wrong person to lead the party into the next general election.
But speaking to Times Radio, she insisted she was the right person for the job.
She said: "We need to turn our country around, and we're the only party that can deliver that stronger economy and stronger borders that this conference is about.
"If I thought someone else could do it, then I'd be taking a step back. I think that I'm the right person and I'm the best person."
She again ruled out an alliance with Reform, saying there is "no deal to be done", and brushed off the council defections, telling ITV's Good Morning Britain: "It's going to be a long journey back from a historic defeat and on very long, difficult journeys you will lose some people on the way."
Mrs Badenoch said: "Just last year, we had MPs jumping to Labour because Labour was doing well in the polls. They're not doing so well now.
"There are some people who will leave because all they want to do is win elections. They don't know what they're winning the elections for."
Later on Tuesday, the conference is expected to hear from shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick - Mrs Badenoch's opponent in last year's leadership contest and, YouGov's poll suggested, party members' top pick to replace her.
He will call for significant reforms to judicial appointments, claiming he has "uncovered a hidden network of activist judges with links to open border campaigns" and arguing a "deep rot has infected parts of our judiciary".
He will also commit to abolishing the sentencing council, claiming its proposals risked the creation of a "two-tier" justice system and had "watered down" sentences set out by Parliament.
A Labour Party spokesperson described the proposal as a "cynical gimmick" from "a man who constantly undermines the independence of the judiciary just to further his own career".
A Labour source said: "Robert Jenrick's answer to what he perceives as the over politicisation of judges is to have him personally pick ones that pass his purity tests.
"No institution is beyond accountability, but we should broadly be proud in Britain of our independent judiciary that ensures everyday protections for working-class people.
"Judges can only give rulings on the law, no more, no less. Jenrick either doesn't know this, which would be worrying for a shadow justice secretary, or does - and clearly doesn't care about the impact of his divisive rhetoric."
