Kemi Badenoch told anxious Tories 'we will get through this' today as she tried to kick-start conference by vowing to get tough on immigration.
As Conservatives gather in Manchester, Mrs Badenoch acknowledged the party has 'paid a political price' for 'taking time' to draw up policy after the election meltdown.
But she insisted that refusing to 'rush out' announcements like Nigel Farage would pay off in the end.
The bullish stance came amid mounting questions about Mrs Badenoch's future - and that of the party itself.
A poll released this weekend showed support on just 16 per cent, far behind Reform on 34 per cent and even worse than secured in the election meltdown last year.
Mr Farage's insurgents are widely expected to try to disrupt the conference by announcing another high-profile defection.
Reform boasted yesterday that London Assembly Member for Havering and Redbridge Keith Prince had switched sides.
Meanwhile, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick is accused of being 'on manoeuvres' for a leadership challenge.
Leaked figures have suggested that the Tories are braced for far fewer members to attend the gathering in Manchester than last year in the immediate aftermath of the election defeat.
As Conservatives gather in Manchester, Kemi Badenoch acknowledged the party has 'paid a political price' for 'taking time' to draw up policy after the election meltdown
Defending her performance, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Nothing good comes quickly or fast.
'It will pay off. I'm an engineer and the way I was taught to do things is you have a plan, you work it through.
'It's not about being the first to announce a policy. It's about having the best policy. That is what I'm offering.
'And, yes, there may have been a small political price to pay in the polls. It will pay off eventually.'
Mrs Badenoch will take the unusual approach of bookending the conference with speeches today and on Wednesday.
She has already declared that a Conservative government would take the UK out of the European Convention on Human Rights - something she resisted saying during the leadership contest against Mr Jenrick last year.
The party announced last night that it would set up a US-style 'Removals Force' to hunt down and deport more than 750,000 migrants.
The Trumpian unit is part of a new seven-point Borders Plan, designed to take advantage of freedoms from leaving the ECHR.
Pressed on where the people would be deported to, Mrs Badenoch told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg that was 'irrelevant'.
'People need to go back to their countries,' she said. 'They can go to safe third countries if that's the best thing for them.'
Challenged where they would go, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Not here, not here. They don't belong here, they are committing crimes, they are hurting people.'
She added: 'I'm tired of us asking all of these irrelevant questions about where should they go. They will go back to where they should do or another country, but they should not be here.'
Mr Jenrick has been one of the loudest voices in favour of quitting the treaty – which has been used by lawyers to thwart deportations.
Last year Mrs Badenoch rejected the idea, saying: 'Leaving the ECHR is not a silver bullet. We need to rewire the whole system from end to end. It's broken. Easy answers today just mean bigger problems tomorrow.'
But with Reform supporting the move the Tories have decided they cannot be outbid, despite concerns that unwinding ECHR membership could cause fresh chaos with other arrangements such as the Good Friday Agreement.
The Removals Force is modelled on America's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), set up in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks to track down illegal immigrants.
President Trump used his One Big Beautiful Bill Act this year to turn it into the largest and best-funded federal law enforcement agency in the country's history.
Under Tory rules, Mrs Badenoch has year-long protection against a confidence vote, but that period ends next week
Under Tory rules, Mrs Badenoch has year-long protection against a confidence vote, but that period ends next week.
A third of Conservative MPs would need to send a letter to the 1922 committee to trigger a contest.
Asked by the Sunday Telegraph for her message to activists, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Hold your nerve. Hold your nerve.
'We are the only party that can deliver a stronger economy and stronger borders. If we don't hold our nerve, we are giving our country up. That is not right.'
