In a scathing display of political animosity, former Conservative minister Robert Jenrick and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have engaged in a war of words over the past few years, trading barbs and accusations.
The feud between the two politicians first erupted in March 2025, when Jenrick criticised Farage for “swanning off to Cheltenham to forget his troubles” while Jenrick was working to stop the implementation of a two-tier sentencing rule. Jenrick went on to question Farage’s motives, asking whether he had “cooked this up after one too many pints at his local” or had “a joint found its way into his usual pack of Marlboro Gold.”
The tensions escalated further in May 2025, when Jenrick accused both Labour and Reform of being “locked in a bidding war to splash out more in handouts” when it came to the two-child benefit cap. Jenrick’s scathing remarks highlighted the growing divide between the former Conservative and the Reform party leader.
In August 2025, the feud took a personal turn when Jenrick reported a picture on social media of Farage, after Jenrick had joined protesters outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Essex. Jenrick quipped that he would have “offered [Farage] a lift” had he known his presence would “rattle [him] so much.”
Farage, in turn, has not held back in his criticism of Jenrick. In August 2025, he labelled the former minister a “fraud,” citing Jenrick’s comments from November 2022 when he was the immigration minister, saying “More hotels have been coming online almost every month. What I have done is to procure even more.”
Farage has also taken to using the derogatory nickname “Robert Generic” for Jenrick, a Trumpian-style moniker that reflects the Reform leader’s long-standing disdain for the former Conservative politician.
The bitter exchange between the two figures underscores the deep divisions within the British political landscape, as former allies-turned-adversaries continue to spar over their divergent ideological positions and policy approaches.
