Home Secretary Suella Braverman has claimed an incoming “hurricane” of “uncontrolled” immigration is heading for the UK – as she responded to speculation she could become the next Tory leader with a confident conference speech.

Ms Braverman, touted as a potential replacement for Rishi Sunak as party leader if the Tories lose next year’s general election, told activists she was “made of strong stuff” and is able to “wade through the personal abuse” thrown at her for her anti-immigration rhetoric.

After a nervous start to her keynote speech, with the spotlight on her as potentially the next party leader, Ms Braverman’s at times theatrical speech oozed of confidence as she uttered strong language against immigration.

But she was slightly tempered from her heavily-criticised words in the United States last week, where she warned that “multiculturalism has failed”.

She was also under fire after suggesting that being persecuted for being gay or a woman was not enough grounds to seek asylum.

During her speech in Manchester, Ms Braverman hit out at what she called gender ideology, criticising calls for gender recognition reforms as tabled by her government under Theresa May.

However, the Home Secretary was heckled by a Tory London Assembly member, who was ejected from her speech, accusing her under his breathe of making his party look “transphobic”.

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Andrew Boff was escorted from the premises after being approached by officials and police.

He heckled Ms Braverman after she said ministers must challenge the “poison” of talk of subjects such as white privilege and gender ideology.

He said: “There’s no such thing as gender ideology.”

Speaking to reporters as he was led from the conference centre, he hit out at “trash” the Home Secretary was saying about “gender ideology”.

He added: “It is making our Conservative Party look transphobic and homophobic.

“Our party has a proud record of standing up for LGBT+ rights and she is destroying it.”

Ms Braverman told activists that she does “occasionally receive a modicum of criticism”, but stressed she is “made of strong stuff” and able to “wade through the personal abuse and willful misrepresentation”.

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She told the conference that the Conservative party is “not afraid to admit when we get it wrong and adapt accordingly”, insisting that “we’re raising our game”.

Ms Braverman added: “Next year, this country will face a clear choice at the general election.

“Who do people trust to deliver the change that Britain needs?”

She warned that “there are huge challenges ahead”, pointing at “unprecedented mass migration”.

The Home Secretary said that the level of immigration to the UK in the 20th Century would be a “mere gust” compared to “the hurricane that is coming”.

Ms Braverman acknowledged that “every single person has the right to aspire to a better life”, but stressed that “Conservatives are also practical and realistic”.

She bluntly said that “nobody can deny that there are far, far more people…than could ever be accommodated” in the UK, adding that “demand will always outstrip supply”.

She said: “I know it, you know it and the voters know it.”

Ms Braverman added: “This country has been generous in taking in refugees from Afghanistan, from Ukraine, from Syria, from Hong Kong.

“The British people have been clear – immigration is already too high.

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“The future could bring millions more migrants to these shores – uncontrolled and unmanageable.”

She insisted that the Conservatives were “the only party that will take effective action” on immigration but admitted her government has been “too slow to recognise the scale of the problem”.

Ms Braverman warned the Tories have been “far too squeamish to be smeared as racist to properly bring order to the chaos”, but repeated that “we are raising our game”.

She told the audience that a Conservative UK Government will “begin closing down asylum hotels”, adding that it was “not nearly enough” action to tackle the problem.

Stressing that “all of this is a question of political will”, Ms Braverman received cheers for proudly stating that “we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats and deter bogus asylum seekers”.

She vowed to ensure that “legal migration comes down to reasonable levels” and that it “only occurs when there is a clear benefit to the British people”.

Ms Braverman followed her government colleagues by piling criticism on Sir Keir Starmer, claiming that “Labour will do what Labour always does – open our borders”.

Placing herself on a par with the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary suggested that smears that her strategy is racist “won’t work against Rishi Sunak and it won’t work against me”.

She bluntly said that at the next election voters will be given “the choice between strong borders and no borders” with Labour.

She also accused Labour of having “tried to make me into a hate figure”, insisting that “I tell the truth – the blunt unvarnished truth about what is happening in our country”.

Ms Braverman claimed that the Conservatives’s “secret weapon” was Sir Keir, suggesting that the public “know that he believes in nothing” and that he “lacks the personality to lead this country effectively”.

She added that “Britain would go properly woke” if Labour secured the keys to Downing Street.

The Home Secretary added: “We are raising our game, we are fighting for a Britain that puts you first. We are on your side.”