In an attempt to reclaim the centre ground, Mrs May declared the EU referendum result a "quiet revolution" in which voters rejected a world that works only for the "privileged few."

"A change has got to come," she said. "And this party – the Conservative Party – is going to make that change."

Mrs May campaigned for Remain but hit out at the political class for mocking voters patriotism.

"Just listen to the way a lot of politicians and commentators talk about the public," she said.

"They find your patriotism distasteful, your concerns about immigration parochial, your views about crime illiberal, your attachment to your job security inconvenient.

"They find the fact that more than 17 million voters decided to leave the European Union simply bewildering."

Just a day after her government announced a harsh plan to name and shame businesses for not hiring British workers and a crackdown on overseas skilled migrants and university students, Mrs May claimed that it was the "divided and divisive" Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn that was the true "nasty party."

"Fighting among themselves. Abusing their own MPs. Threatening to end their careers. Tolerating anti-Semitism and supporting voices of hate. You know what some people call them? The nasty party," she said.

Mr Corbyn, who took 24 hours to issue his first statement on the government's new immigration plans, which have shocked the business and education sectors, condemned the Tories' new direction on immigration.

"Conservative Party leaders have sunk to a new low this week as they fan the flames of xenophobia and hatred in our communities and try to blame foreigners for their own failures," he said.

"Once again, they are making false promises on immigration they can't deliver. Instead of turning people against each other, ministers should take action now to deal with the real impact of migration."

In her speech – entitled "The good that government can do" – Mrs May said her vision was for Britain to become a "great meritocracy" for all.

"I want us to be a country where it doesn't matter where you were born, who your parents are, where you went to school, what your accent sounds like, what god you worship, whether you're a man or a woman, gay or straight, or black or white," she said.

"All that should matter is the talent you have and how hard you're prepared to work."

She set out a passionate defence of the role of the state in people's lives – statements that contrasted sharply with the Conservative Party's natural tendency to urge smaller government.

"It's time to remember the good that government can do," she said.

"Time for a new approach that says while government does not have all the answers, government can and should be a force for good; that the state exists to provide what individual people, communities and markets cannot; and that we should employ the power of government for the good of the people."

The prime minister said she was in the job "to stand up for the weak and stand up to the strong," and vowed to crack down on all tax dodgers no matter who they were.

Mrs May said her plan would "tackle the unfairness and injustice that divides us" to build a "new united Britain" that was "rooted in the centre ground."

She said she wanted to place the government at the service of ordinary working-class people.

"A plan that will mean government stepping up. Righting wrongs. Challenging vested interests. Taking big decisions. Doing what we believe to be right. Getting the job done," she said.

The three-day Tory conference concluded on Wednesday.

It was the party's first conference since the divisive Brexit referendum and Mrs May's first since becoming prime minster after David Cameron stepped down. Mr Cameron has also resigned from Parliament. His ally and former chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, did not attend the conference.

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