As is tradition, the "Leader's Speech" is scheduled for this afternoon's final session of the Conservative Party conference. But perhaps inevitably, some fancied they heard this year's finale 48 hours early.
"Are we listening to a future chancellor or a future prime minister?" whispered a colleague as we listened to Michael Portillo's conference comeback.
For those expecting a detailed breakdown of Tory tax and spending plans, a line-by-line rebuttal of Tony Blair's "£16 billion Tory cuts", the Shadow Chancellor's offering would prove a disappointment.
But for those fascinated by the drama and personality of politics - not to mention those wanting a glimpse of a conceivable Tory return to power - this was a compelling performance.
The new, humble, caring Portillo has been on a remarkable, at times intensely difficult, journey. Making his first platform appearance since his return to the House of Commons he was determined to share it with a fascinated, if sometimes distinctly nervous, party.
Even before his revelations about his personal life, some true blues sniffily used his Spanish parentage to imply he wasn't truly "one of us". Now they applauded the proud son of the immigrant who came to Britain in fear of his life, as he dismissed Labour "smears" on Tory insistence that tough controls are necessary if Britain is to do right by the genuinely persecuted.
Self-mockingly, he asked: "Is it likely a little Englander would be called Portillo?" Proclaiming himself "a proud European", he addressed them in Spanish to warn of the perils of joining the Euro: "Antes de que te cases, mira lo que haces. Before you get yourself hitched, watch what you're doing. Look before you leap." The brash young minister who notoriously leapt to appropriate the SAS motto was no more.
Almost grateful for his spectacular general election defeat - "the British electorate did me a favour" - Mr Portillo said his time out of parliament had given him an opportunity to "connect" with the Britain of today.
It was not necessarily a Britain all the representatives here would recognise or identify with. They applauded warmly the country of "rich diversity", united in pride by athletic prowess in Sydney.
However, there was some uncomfortable shifting about the hall as he continued: "Conservatives don't look for uniformity, but for qualities that mark people out as individual and exceptional. We are for people whatever their sexual orientation." And then the very explicit challenge-come-warning to his party - remarkable because it should be so elementary as to appear unremarkable.
"The Conservative Party isn't merely a party of tolerance: it's a party willing to accord every one of our citizens respect. Why should people respect us if we withhold respect from them?" he demanded.
Labour will show no respect for Mr Portillo's plans to boost health spending by opening the door to private finance. He says he cannot be asked to define his plans against Labour's "over promise", and plainly has his work cut out to convince voters he can spend more than Labour, while leaving scope for tax cuts. Charges of spending "cuts" and Tory "privatisation" will clearly now fill the pre-election air.
However, on a raft of policies, the Conservatives are in the process of shaping an alternative agenda. And in yesterday's Guardian Polly Toynbee shrewdly divined a salutary warning for Labour: if another five years of spending fail to make good Labour's promises on hospitals, schools and other services, the evolving Tory manifesto could well prove a trailblazer at the following election.
There's the rub. Queuing for the chairman's party the other night, two Welsh Tories confided they did not believe Mr Hague could win the next election. "Young people don't like him," said one. A former senior minister was more flattering. But asked if we were witnessing "a dramatic Tory recovery", he thoughtfully replied: "We're certainly witnessing a recovery. Whether or not it's dramatic . . ."
So, Mr Hague this afternoon must persuade his party, and the country, that he is a prime minister in waiting. Until he makes that elusive connection the real question will remain - whether it will be him, or Mr Portillo, who leads the next Opposition.