Robert Jenrick has joined Reform UK after being sacked from
the Conservative front bench and expelled from the party.
At a press conference in Westminster, the former shadow
justice secretary launched an unprecedented attack on his former colleagues,
claiming that the party had "betrayed its voters and members" and was
"in denial or being dishonest" about its record.
He claimed that the nation now needs Nigel Farage and that
he was joining Reform UK because Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives had failed to
adapt after losing the 2024 election.
The Reform leader greeted Mr. Jenrick at the London press
conference, calling the former shadow justice secretary's departure "a
very big moment."
Hours after Ms. Badenoch announced on social media that she
had fired Mr. Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, he made the unexpected decision
to join the party.
It continues:
“I am proud to become Reform’s 281,000th member. To back Nigel. And join this movement. I know in my heart it’s what’s right by our country. If, like me, you’ve backed another party but know it’s lost its way, don’t stay. Don’t stay in a party that hasn’t been loyal to you. When your country needs you.”
A Conservative Party spokesperson said:
“We are in no doubt whatsoever about Jenrick’s involvement in the drafting of these words and his intention to stab his Conservative colleagues in the back.”
Announcing his sacking on Thursday morning, Ms Badenoch 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.
According to sources close to Ms. Badenoch, the two had a
heated discussion prior to Christmas during which Mr. Jenrick denied joining
Mr. Farage's party.
However, his supporters contend that the true reason he was
fired was because they were planning a leadership challenge following the May
elections, which are predicted to be disastrous for the Tories.
After discovering indications of a leadership push and
learning that Mr. Jenrick's supporters were drafting the letters of no
confidence required to start a Tory leadership contest, The Independent had
contacted Ms. Badenoch's office this week.
“The British public are tired of political psychodrama, and so am I. They saw too much of it in the last government; they’re seeing too much of it in this government. I will not repeat those mistakes.”
“It is not weakening the Conservative Party at all, weak as it now is. It is ridding it of the incubus that has been destroying it,”
he
insisted.
“It is potentially the first critical step on the path to recovery.”
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith wrote on X:
“I came into politics from business. I know there’s no ‘I’ in team. In the face of the epic damage the socialists in Downing Street are doing, we are not short of reasons for [the] Conservatives to be united. Leadership involves laying down the line.”
Mr. Jenrick's defection occurs a few days after Nadhim
Zahawi, a former Tory minister and the most recent of several prominent
Conservatives, defected to Reform.
How will this defection affect the Conservative Party's standing in polls?
Robert Jenrick's high- profile dereliction to Reform UK on
January 15, 2026, is projected to worsen the Conservative Party's formerly dire
polling position, dropping them further behind both Labour and Reform.
Recent YouGov and MRP checks previous to the switch showed
rightists at 20- 24 third place with Reform leading at 28- 32 among 2019 Tory
choosers. Judges anticipate a 2- 4 point Tory droppost-defection, mirroring
Danny Kruger's 2025 switch that bring rightists 3 points in East Wiltshire
marginals, as Jenrick's Newark seat( 1,500 maturity) highlights right- sect
namer hemorrhage.
Reform earnings instigated toward May 2026 original choices, potentially catching conservatives nationally; Jenrick's examens on immigration and net zero sway 15- 20 of C2DE Tory deserters. Badenoch's decisive sacking rallies core patriots but alienates centrists, risking by- election losses and attesting Reform as the primary right- sect opposition.