Determined, loyal and fun. The three words Tory leadership frontrunner Liz Truss said her friends would use to describe her at a hustings in Cardiff.
The Foreign Secretary's determination was on show in Wales as she sought to bounce back from her public pay sector gaffe.
Once awkward in front of the camera and robotic on the stage, Ms Truss held the eyes of the audience as she promised 'change'.
Some commentators cringed as she described herself as an environmentalist long before it was "fashionable", back in the '90s.
But the self-professed fan of James Bond theme tunes stole the show, even capitalising on a question over whether she was flaky.
“I think being a convert is actually an asset, because what do we have to do at the election? We have to convert people”.
Her rival Rishi Sunak struggled to connect with the Tory members who will determine the next Prime Minister.
The former Chancellor faces a crunch week to turn things around but last night he rehashed chunks of his introductory speech from earlier hustings, relying on a personal joke to cut through.
"If I became Rishi Davies, I'll have the edge here in Wales," he quipped, in an apparent gag about the surnames of Tories like Andrew RT Davies.
In another sign of Mr Sunak's desperation, he suggested cutting inheritance tax in future and vowed to take a more "Conservative" stance on benefits.
It appears he hadn't learned from his last tax flip-flop.
The Foreign Secretary joked about her love for Welsh lamb & beef, after describing how she had fought US president Joe Biden to ensure those exports were not banned.
But she managed to cut through with Tory Welsh members.
One Tory member told the Mirror last night: "Rishi Sunak is the accountant type. He's the person who'll have the figures but Liz is hardworking and has got so much done.
"While Boris was taking credit for our response to the Ukraine crisis - Liz was getting sanctions signed off.
"I'm glad to see her looking more relaxed tonight, me and a lot of my friends who are members are ready to back her."
Ms Truss received the support of former Health Secretary Sajid Javid, moments before the hustings kicked off.
It would have come as a blow to Mr Sunak who previously worked with Mr Javid in the Treasury.
