Priti Patel took a swipe at Rishi Sunak today, blaming "those in power and control" for the party's local election drubbing.
And Jacob Rees-Mogg warned the Tories risked becoming "toast", as the party descended into civil war.
Ms Patel, the former Home Secretary, told a Boris Johnson-backing conference, accused Mr Sunak of presiding over the "managed decline" of her party, and complained that the removal of Mr Johnson was "undemocratic."
And she took a thinly-veiled swipe at Mr Sunak following last week's devastating local election results, saying "errors and mistakes made by a minority in Westminster have cost [the] party dearly".
"A piece to camera, a highly organised visit, and taking a few questions from journalists at press conferences is no substitute for a few hours of hard graft and campaigning knocking on doors and delivering leaflets," she said.
Disgruntled right-wing Conservatives, frustrated at the direction the party is taking, descended on Bournemouth for the first conference of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), yesterday.
The group, led by mega-donor Lord Peter Cruddas and former MEP David Campbell Bannerman, was behind the "Get Boris on the Ballot" campaign following the ex-PM's removal last Summer.
It's been branded a "party within a party", and compared to Jeremy Corbyn-backing group Momentum.
Mr Rees-Mogg, Ms Patel, former Northern Ireland Secretary Conor Burns and former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries were guests of honour at the day-long get-together.
Mr Johnson did not attend, but provided a signed magnum of Bollinger rose as a raffle prize and sent a video message which was played in the main hall.
Speaking in front of a pair of union flags, Mr Johnson said: "A massive thankyou to you for everything you've done and continue to do for our great party, the Conservative Party."
Ms Patel was given a standing ovation for her speech.
But moments earlier, Tory vice-chairman Paul Holmes was heckled with a cry of "Sunak out" from the audience.
Andrea Jenkyns, who became famous for giving anti-Johnson protesters the finger after he was ousted from No10, suggested her fellow Tory MPs weren't Conservative enough.
"I look at some of my colleagues and think 'you belong in the Lib Dems, actually'," she said.
Ms Jenkyns, a trained opera singer, opened proceedings by singing the national anthem, as delegates stood to attention and sang along.
Former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries used most of her speech to praise Mr Johnson, her former boss.
She repeatedly claimed the Tories were just 5 points behind in the polls when he resigned - in fact they were 11 points behind.
And she slammed "wannabe Prime Ministers" who "ran out to the nearest camera and denounced him."
She didn't outright call for Mr Johnson to return as leader, but she said the party needed to "get back" to where they were when he was Prime Minister.
"The solution is always quite simple. You need the right leader, you need the right vision and you need to make people feel inspired," she said.
"And when you put those things together, you can connect, because you're working on behalf of the people.
"I don't think we're there at the moment. We need to get back to that place."
But former Commons leader Mr Rees-Mogg warned against any move to oust Mr Sunak before the next election.
He said the the party already looked “ridiculous” for changing leader twice in a year.
And he said they would look “absurd” to do it again.
In his keynote address, Mr Rees-Mogg complained about Mr Johnson, “our most successful electoral asset was removed without even a by-your-leave from the members.”
He said: “Many of us were very unhappy about what happened last year, and the changes of leader.
“But think very carefully. We must not change leader again. We must support Rishi Sunak to the general election, or we will be toast.
“Because any party that changes leader twice in a year falls in the opinion polls and looks ridiculous.
“If we were to do it again, how would we motivate anyone to vote for us on the basis that practically every member of the Conservative Party has been leader for a day.
“It would make us look absurd.”
He added: “We really do, in the interests of Conservative Democracy, have to support our current leader, in the current circumstances, and to the next election.”
Organisers claimed 750 people were registered for the conference, though there never appeared to be more than 300 in the venue.
