Rishi Sunak has urged the Conservative Party to unite behind whoever wins the contest to replace him as leader.

In a speech at the party’s conference in Birmingham, Sunak said: “We must end the division, the backbiting, the squabbling.

“We mustn’t nurse old grudges but build new friendships.”

In a break with tradition, Sunak will not be delivering a big end of conference speech to the party faithful on Wednesday.

He said he did not want to be a “distraction” to the four MPs vying to replace him as leader, who will each give a 20 minute speech on Wednesday morning instead.

Party members queued for more than an hour to get into Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, which was transformed from a classical music venue to something more like a nightclub for Sunak’s farewell speech.

The lights were dimmed and two blue neon Conservative logos hung from the ceiling.

Former members of Sunak’s Downing Street operation watched on as their old boss bid farewell as the Conservatives’ leader.

Sunak began by apologising to Conservative members for the party’s general election defeat, telling them: “I am only sorry that your efforts could not deliver the results you deserved.”

“It wasn’t you,” a member shouted back.

He insisted the Tories could not let Sir Keir Starmer “rewrite history” and celebrated his party’s record of 14 years in office.

There were jokes about Sir Keir’s acceptance of freebies, with Sunak saying the conference was such a “hot ticket” he was surprised the Labour leader “hasn’t asked someone to buy it for him”.

But he ended with a plea for part unity.

“We must always remember what unites us rather than obsessing about where we might differ.

“Because when we turn in on ourselves we lose; and the country ends up with a Labour government,” he said.

“You don’t need someone to give you a pair of designer glasses to see that the shine is coming off Keir Starmer already.”

He warned the party that if the Conservatives were going to get back into power “then our new leader is going to need your support – and especially when the going gets tough”.

He added: “So, let’s use this conference to look to the future and ensure that one of our four candidates is not just the next leader of our party but our next prime minister too.

“And with that, I hand this conference over to them.”

One MP who lost his seat at the election told the BBC he was there to thank the leader who had done his duty for the Tories, and who had tried his best despite the mistakes of his predecessors.

Sunak’s call for party unity was met with warm applause and occasional bursts of “Rishi! Rishi!”

Yet even with free wine and beer on offer, the crowd were far from energised.

And as Sunak laid out his prime ministerial legacy, those vying to succeed him – Kemi Badenoch, Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat – were holding rival events nearby.