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Theresa May waves after giving her keynote address on the fourth and final day of the Conservative Party Conference 2018 at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, U.K., on Oct. 3, 2018.BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

When British Prime Minister Theresa May arrived at the Conservative Party’s annual conference this week, her leadership was in turmoil and her Brexit strategy seemed doomed. Few expected her to emerge from the four-day meeting with either intact.

And yet Ms. May has managed to defy the skeptics with a vigorous appeal to the party faithful on Wednesday that has rallied support for her leadership and diffused attacks on her Brexit plan, even though that plan remains widely unpopular and could yet unravel. Using rare flashes of humour, including mocking her own inability to dance by arriving on stage to the sounds of ABBA’s Dancing Queen, Ms. May struck a confident tone as she offered members her vision of Brexit and the country’s future once it leaves the European Union in March.

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Theresa May dances as she walks out to deliver her speech at the Conservative Party Conference.Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

Putting a positive spin on Brexit, she preached the many opportunities it will afford and promised an end to austerity, which has been dominating government policy since the 2008 financial crisis. “If we stick together and hold our nerve, I know we can get a deal that delivers for Britain,” she told party members. “The people we serve are not interested in debates about the theory of Brexit – their livelihoods depend on making a success of it in practice.”

It’s far from clear the support will last, and many Tories remain wary. Even as she spoke, one Tory MP called for a leadership challenge while other MPs, such as long-time Brexit backer Peter Bone, said they remained unconvinced by her remarks. “I agree with everything she said, except on Brexit,” Mr. Bone said in an interview after the speech.

Ms. May is also heading into the final weeks of negotiations with the EU on a withdrawal agreement that will set the terms of the future relationship. So far her, key proposal, which calls for Britain to, in essence, remain within the EU’s single market for trade in goods but not services, has been largely dismissed by fellow Tories, the Opposition Labour Party and EU leaders.

Her main Tory rival, former foreign secretary Boris Johnson, has called the plan deranged and a sell out of the spirit of Brexit because it keeps the country tied to the EU. He and others want Ms. May to negotiate a trade deal with the EU instead that’s based on the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). On the other flank, Tories who support closer ties to the EU have said Ms. May’s plan doesn’t go far enough in giving British businesses access to the EU market. And EU leaders have simply said the plan won’t work. As a result, almost no one gives Ms. May a chance of getting the required approval from the British House of Commons or the European Parliament for any deal based on her strategy.

But, on Wednesday, Ms. May made it clear she won’t back down. She told party members her plan was in the national interest, and she rejected the Canada option, arguing it would create a hard border in Ireland and violate the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of sectarian violence in that region. She also dismissed negotiating closer ties to the EU, saying that would force Britain to accept the free movement of people, something abhorrent to most British voters. “If we all go off in different directions in pursuit of our own visions of the perfect Brexit, we risk ending up with no Brexit at all,” she said. “Britain isn’t afraid to leave with no deal if we have to. But we need to be honest about it. Leaving without a deal – introducing tariffs and costly checks at the border – would be a bad outcome for the U.K. and the EU.”

She also took some subtle shots at Mr. Johnson, poking fun at a recent profane comment he made about business leaders by saying she also had a four-letter word for business – “back,” as in “back business.” And she signalled the growing threat to the party from Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose policies calling for nationalization of railways and greater spending on social services have found growing support across the country. In a nod to Mr. Corbyn’s popularity, Ms. May launched a lengthy attack on Labour, and promised that her party would end years of austerity with more spending on health care and housing. “We support free markets because we know their strengths. But we also know their limits,” she said.

Many Tories welcomed the speech, and even some who oppose her on Brexit said they were prepared to give her some time, knowing that a leadership contest could prompt an election and help Labour. “She mentioned compromise a lot, and it’s an essential part of politics,” said Samuel Davidson, 18, a Tory member from Wales who doesn’t support Ms. May’s Brexit strategy. “Not everything is black and white. We have to make compromises.”

Manas Deb, a businessman from Cambridge who wants even closer ties to the EU, was also prepared to give Ms. May time. “Ms. May is doing a great job, and she should be given an opportunity to carry on with her plan,” he said. “If she fails to come with a deal, then I think Boris should throw in his hat.”

But others were unimpressed by the speech. “I wanted to be convinced,” said Carol Ward. “I really did. I’m not convinced she’s going to be strong enough to walk away [from EU negotiations], and we’d be happier to walk away than anything else that the EU are promising us right now.” But even Ms. Ward doesn’t want to push Ms. May out as Leader, convinced there is no clear alternative and that Mr. Johnson isn’t up to the job. “I don’t think we’ve got a better leader at the moment.”

Asked what she would do if Ms. May refused to change her policy, Ms. Ward shrugged and said: “I don’t know. I should just keep writing to her daily.”

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