In a dramatic political development, former Conservative MP Robert Jenrick has announced his defection to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, just hours after being sacked from the Tory frontbench. The 44-year-old, who unsuccessfully challenged Kemi Badenoch for the Conservative leadership in 2024, has revealed he approached Farage four months ago, citing his belief that the party he joined as a teenager is “incapable of fixing Britain.”
Jenrick’s move marks the culmination of months of speculation about his future, as the Tories continue to trail Farage’s insurgent party in the polls under Badenoch’s leadership. The former shadow justice secretary, once dubbed “Robert Generic” by his critics for his supposedly moderate views, has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years, shifting ever further to the right on issues like immigration.
As Badenoch’s shadow justice secretary, Jenrick launched broadsides against “activist” judges and became increasingly critical of court rulings in immigration cases. He also built up a significant online profile, attracting attention with eye-catching videos confronting fare evaders on the London Underground and filming fly-tipped waste in Labour-run Birmingham.
Jenrick’s defection comes just weeks after he insisted he was “not going anywhere,” amid rumours he could leave the Conservatives. But Badenoch has now confirmed that she sacked him from her shadow cabinet for plotting to jump ship, a move Farage insists was premature as the switch was “not quite a done deal.”
Born in Wolverhampton in 1982, Jenrick grew up in Shropshire and Herefordshire, and has long embraced an identity as a “unashamedly provincial” Midlands politician, arguing that “normal people” in his Newark constituency have been “very badly served” by the political class.
After working as a corporate lawyer and in the art world, Jenrick entered Parliament in 2014, seeing off a challenge from Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party. He has since been a vocal supporter of Israel’s conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah, and called for the UK to move its embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
More recently, Jenrick has faced controversy over a planning decision in 2019, when as housing secretary he overruled the blocking of a £1bn building project proposed by Tory donor Richard Desmond. He has also been criticised for driving 150 miles from London to his Herefordshire home during the Covid lockdown.
Now, the ambitious former minister will be looking to forge a new career with Farage’s Reform UK after over a decade as a Conservative MP. His dramatic defection is the latest blow to the beleaguered Tories under Badenoch’s leadership, as they struggle to contain the rise of the populist right.