Defiant Sunak set to speak at Tory party conference.

Rishi Sunak is set to defy the record electoral humiliation his party suffered and give a final keynote speech at the Tory conference in October.

- DAVID MADDOX

The former prime minister has been criticised for "letting Labour get away with murder" over the summer with an extended absence from the political scene, even though he is still leading the Conservatives as they try to find a new leader in a four-month process.

Questions were being asked over whether he would even attend the party conference in Birmingham this year. The conference’s main focus will be on the late stages of the leadership race, with the final four candidates taking part in a “beauty contest” with members.

Some Tory MPs had suggested that Mr Sunak may want to avoid the conference after leading the Tories to the worst general election defeat in modern history after calling an early poll for 4 July instead of waiting until later this year.