ROBERT JENRICK HAS defected to Reform UK after being sacked from the Tory frontbench by Kemi Badenoch because of “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting” to jump ship in a “damaging” way.
Reform leader Nigel Farage said he would “buy Kemi lunch next week and say thank you”, as he confirmed Jenrick was joining his party.
Jenrick has attracted speculation about leadership ambitions since being beaten in his bid for the party leadership in November 2024, and has repeatedly stepped out beyond the shadow cabinet line.
Conservative leader Badenoch earlier said she had sacked Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership.
She said: “I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his shadow cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party.”
A source told The Times that Badenoch’s team obtained a copy of a drafted resignation speech by Jenrick, said to be a “near final” text.
The newspaper said he had cancelled a speaking engagement this week and was thought to be set to announce his defection with 24 hours.
Farage gushed his thanks for the ‘late Christmas present’ today.
“I’ve had to think very quickly as to how I should respond to this, and I just want to say thank you to Kemi Badenoch, this is the latest Christmas present I’ve ever had,” the Reform UK leader told a Thursday afternoon Westminster press conference.
“The negotiations with Jenrick are over. There’s nothing more to be said or to be done.
“You’ve handed me on a plate the man that is by far the most popular figure, 60% approval rating on ConHome…
“You’ve perhaps today, really done anything more than anybody in history to help realign the centre-right of British politics, which is much needed against a dreadful Labour Government and increasingly worrying extreme left-wing voice in this country.
“So I can’t offer you drinks all round, but I’ll buy Kemi lunch next week and say thank you.
“And on that note, I will welcome Robert Jenrick into this room and into Reform UK.”
After an awkward delay, Jenrick appeared at the press conference and said: “It’s time for the truth. Britain has been in decline. Britain is in decline.”
The news comes in the same week that former Tory chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defected to Farage’s Reform party.
Other Conservatives who lost their seats, such as Nadine Dorries and Andrea Jenkyns, have also defected to Reform.
Farage this morning announced another former Tory minister, Malcolm Offord, as the leader of Reform UK party in Scotland.