"I think, forgive me, what they want to hear is what my plans are for the country and our party," he added, to more applause. Loading Johnson split from his wife and began dating Carrie Symonds, a former staffer in Conservative Party headquarters, last year. She has been credited for his weight loss, sharper image and more disciplined approach in recent months. But his campaign for Number 10 has been rocked by revelations that officers were called to the home he shares with Symonds by a neighbour who claimed to have been "frightened and concerned" after hearing shouting, "a loud scream" and banging coming from the property. A poll carried out after the reports emerged suggested Johnson's support among Tory voters had dropped by more than half, while among the general electorate it indicated he had slipped into second place behind rival Jeremy Hunt.

Tory elder Sir Malcolm Rifkind told BBC Radio 5 Live: "If you are a candidate to be prime minister and the police have been called to your house - fairly or unfairly - the fact is there was a police visit. You don't just say 'no comment'. "That implies you may have something you don't want to disclose." Sir Malcolm, who indicated he would back Hunt in the race, added: "It was a lack of judgment to refuse to even make a short comment. All he could have said, quite reasonably, would have been that in all relationships there are occasionally outbursts of anger and disagreement." Two surveys suggested Johnson's lead over Hunt among Conservative voters had been cut from 27 points to 11, while among all respondents Mr Hunt was ahead on 32 per cent with Mr Johnson on 29 per cent. Metropolitan Police confirmed that officers were called to a flat in south London at 12.24am after receiving a call from a person "concerned for the welfare of a female neighbour".

According to audio released to The Guardian, 31-year old Symonds was reportedly heard telling Johnson to "get off me" and "get out of my flat". Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt speaks at the Conservative Party event. Credit:Bloomberg Symonds is also reported to have complained that Johnson has damaged her sofa with red wine and said: "You just don't care for anything because you're spoilt. You have no care for money or anything." The neighbour reported hearing the sound of plates smashing as well as screams. Police attended the scene but said there were no offences committed, cause for concern or police action. Jeremy Hunt rules out early election

Speaking to the Conservative Progress pressure group's annual conference in London, ahead of the hustings in the Midlands, Hunt pitched himself as the anti-populist candidate. "Now faced with a hard-left populist we could of course choose our own populist, or we could do better and choose our own Jeremy!" Hunt said. Hunt said he wanted to make drastic cuts to Britain's corporate tax rate, which is 19 per cent. "I want to do some radical cuts to business taxes, bring corporation tax down to Irish levels, 12.5 per cent," he said. Significantly, Hunt promised he would not take the country to a general election before delivering Brexit and said while he favoured leaving with a deal, he would leave "no deal" on the table, although said it would never be agreed by Parliament. "One thing I will never do ... is have a general election before we deliver Brexit," he said, citing a recent byelection that Labour won under Britain's first-past-the-post system, because the right-wing vote was split by the Brexit Party and the Conservatives.

His positions outlined on Saturday reduce his options for how to deliver Brexit, as he has ruled out trying to seek a majority in a fresh poll, as well as all but conceded a clean break from the European Union is not possible. Sajid Javid unloads on Theresa May Home Secretary Sajid Javid also addressed the conference and unleashed a stinging rebuke of outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May. "You weren't even able to stand as a Conservative candidate – do you remember, I wasn't a Conservative candidate at the general election 2017, I was Theresa May's candidate, well that went well didn't it?" he said to laughter and applause. UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid at the Conservative Progress conference in London. Credit:Alexander Turner

Javid also hit out his party's headquarters and its management of the 2017 campaign, which was headed by the Australian strategist Sir Lynton Crosby, who is informally advising Johnson's campaign. "Everything was dictated by central office, cabinet ministers weren't even consulted on policy and we paid a price, we can never let that happen again," he said. Javid, whose father was a migrant from Pakistan, pitched himself as Britain's first prime minister from an ethnic background, but was eliminated from the Tory race this week. Boris Johnson, the leading candidate for the Conservative party leadership speaks on Saturday. Credit:Bloomberg He said he was still choosing who to support between Hunt and Johnson and said he would be happy to serve in the government led by either men. "I'm still reflecting on it. Whoever wins, if they want me to serve in their government, I'd be happy to serve."