In a dramatic turn of events, former Conservative Shadow Minister Robert Jenrick has announced his defection to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, just hours after being sacked by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. Jenrick, who served as Housing Secretary and Immigration Minister under Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, launched a scathing attack on his former party, accusing the Conservatives of being “rotten” and having “betrayed its voters.”
Badenoch revealed that she had dismissed Jenrick from the shadow cabinet and suspended him from the party, citing “clear, irrefutable evidence” that he was plotting a secret defection in a “damaging” way. Hours passed without a response from Jenrick, as Conservative sources claimed his plans had been uncovered after materials, including a defection speech, were found “lying around.”
Farage, who welcomed Jenrick into the Reform UK fold, thanked Badenoch for what he called “the latest Christmas present I’ve ever had.” In his first speech as a Reform UK member, Jenrick declared that “Britain has been in decline” and that both Labour and the Conservatives had “broke[n] Britain.”
The former Tory MP also launched personal attacks on his former shadow cabinet colleagues, accusing Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride of overseeing “the explosion of the welfare bill” and former Home Secretary Priti Patel of allowing “a million migrants to come here” in “the greatest failure of any British government in the post-war period.”
Jenrick, who served in the Conservative government alongside Stride and Patel, acknowledged his own role in the party’s failures but claimed he had been “let down” by Johnson and Sunak. He stated that he had already “resolved to leave” the Conservatives before his sacking, saying it was something he had “given a great deal of thought to over a very long time.”
Badenoch, who has appointed former Theresa May aide Nick Timothy as Jenrick’s replacement, described the defection as “not a blow to lose someone who lies to his colleagues.” She added that “the only person that is telling the truth is me” and that “this has been a good day, bad people are leaving my party.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticized Badenoch’s decision, saying it showed “weakness” and questioned why it had taken her so long to act against Jenrick’s “toxic comments.” Starmer also accused the Conservatives of being a “sinking ship” as Farage welcomes “failed politicians” into the ranks of Reform UK.
The dramatic events surrounding Jenrick’s defection mark a pivotal moment for the future of the British right-wing, with Conservative MPs genuinely fearful that their party is being usurped by Farage’s Reform UK. As the May local and national elections approach, the battle for the center-right appears to be intensifying.
