Our economy’s moribund, borders are broken, armed forces depleted and the PM’s an ocean-going Socialist dud. So as Jenrick’s defection rocks the Right, our message to Reform and the Tories: Stop fighting each other – and end the Labour nightmare

Robert Jenrick threw a grenade into the politics of the British Right on Thursday as he defected to Reform, just hours after being revealed as a Conservative Party turncoat.

In a dramatic day in Westminster, the former Conservative leadership candidate became the highest-profile figure to defect to Nigel Farage’s rebel party.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail on Thursday night, he said his all-conquering former colleagues now have as much chance of winning the next election as the Greens and called on all centre-right voters to ‘rally behind Nigel Farage’.

A senior Reform source said Mr Jenrick would be rewarded with the job of Shadow chancellor in a briefing that would strengthen the party’s economic credentials.

The former immigration minister had been in secret talks with Mr Farage since September.

But his identity was blown when a Tory mole came across a printed draft of his departure speech, which suggested he was ready to jump ship at any moment, and gave it to Kemi Badenoch.

The Conservative leader has launched an extraordinary pre-emptive attack on his former rival.

In a video posted just after 11am, Ms Badenoch said she had sacked him and kicked him out of the party after being presented with “clear, irrefutable evidence that he was secretly plotting to escape in a way designed to be as damaging as possible”.

Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick was sacked due to ‘undeniable evidence that he secretly conspired to leave’ the party, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said.

In a warning designed to prevent further defections, he added: ‘The British public are fed up with political psychodrama, and so am I. They saw this too much in the last government, and they see this too much in this Government. ‘I won’t repeat these mistakes.’

His intervention briefly put Mr Jenrick’s future in doubt, but five hours later his escape was confirmed at a joint press conference with Mr Farage and he launched an all-out attack on the party he joined when he was 16.

Mr Jenrick said he would not stand for a by-election in the seat of Newark, claiming voters were already aware of his views.

Meanwhile, Mr Farage thanked Ms Badenoch for taking Mr Jenrick under her wing and said the departure could only happen at ’60:40′ at that point.

But the senior Tory believes he is only days away from resigning, despite having sat at the cabinet table just 24 hours ago.

Former colleagues of Mr Jenrick attacked him on Thursday night. One Shadow Cabinet minister described him as a ‘snake’, while another said he had ‘lost his mind’.

‘Jenrick was consumed by personal ambition, both during the last leadership election and later when Kemi’s position appeared to be under threat,’ the source said.

‘Jenrick’s ambition was foiled when it became clear Kemi wasn’t actually going anywhere and now he’s done this stupid thing.’

The former Immigration Secretary had been in secret talks with Mr Farage since September.

In a passionate defense of his choice, Mr Jenrick said: ‘If we don’t get the next government right, Britain is likely to be beyond repair.’

His departure has horrified warnings that Labor could only be ousted at the next election if the Conservatives and Reform reached a compromise to ‘unite the right’.

While Mr Jenrick told the Daily Mail on Thursday there would be ‘no deal’, Mr Farage insisted the right could now only unite behind him.

Former Tory Cabinet minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has called on the two parties to stop fighting and form a united front against Labour.

‘I think it is absolutely necessary to unite your political wing in the first-past-the-post system. “This is extremely important,” he said.

‘I think it is the duty of the right to unite in the national interest because this Labor Government is so incompetent. If they’re doing a good job there could be a fight on the right.’

Amid rumors of further defections, Sir Jacob encouraged the Tory party on the Right to stay as those on the Left would ‘make no deal’ with Reformation.

Mr Farage and Mr Jenrick have fought many times in the past. The Reform leader has branded his Conservative rival a ‘con man’ after toughening his stance on immigration.

In March last year, Mr Jenrick said the Reform leader ‘can’t even manage a 5-a-side team, so he can’t manage a country’.

In his speech at that time, he said that although he ‘sympathized’ with some of the views of Reform, ‘they were not a serious party’.

Mr Jenrick admitted the two men did not always see eye to eye.

But he said he was now convinced only Mr Farage could beat Labor and turn the country around.

He told the Daily Mail that his former party had ‘betrayed every principle it had’ and added: ‘If you want to get rid of Keir Starmer, if you want to get rid of this failing Labor Government and fix the country, you have to rally behind Nigel Farage and Reform.

Mr Jenrick is currently one of six Reform MPs in the House of Commons, alongside Mr Farage, Richard Tice, Lee Anderson, Sarah Pochin and Danny Kruger.

Mr Farage previously insisted he ‘always’ thought Mr Jenrick was a ‘conman’

‘The next election will be a choice between the country getting worse or starting the country on its future journey to success and prosperity, and it will simply be a choice between Starmer – or whatever failed Labor politician replaces him – and Nigel Farage.’

Mr Farage said the two men now ‘agree on almost everything’.

The reform leader refused to make a deal with Mr Jenrick, saying: ‘I did not offer him a rank, position, title or money.’

But a senior Reform source said Mr Jenrick would be appointed as the party’s Shadow Chancellor in the coming weeks. The move could cause friction with the party’s vice chairman, Richard Tice, who covets the post.

Mr Farage warned other budding asylum seekers to act quickly, saying he would not take any further applications after local elections in May, when he predicted the Conservatives would ‘cease to be a national party’.

He rejected suggestions that Reform had become another version of the Conservative Party; He has announced that he has turned down some Conservative Party defectors and will announce a leading Labor backer next week.

Keir Starmer celebrated the chaos on the Right, saying: ‘We are seeing a flood of Tory politicians and ex-politicians going to Reform because they know the Tory Party is a sinking ship.’

Jenrick’s journey from Conservative Party leader to Reform MP

Robert Jenrick’s irregular departure from the Conservative Party and his suspension by Reform is the latest turbulent chapter in a checkered political journey.

Mr Jenrick, 44, who was appointed party leader by Kemi Badenoch in late 2024, is said to be leaving the long-struggling Conservative Party and siding with Nigel Farage.

And that’s what he did today, after being improperly fired by Miss Badenoch.

He had raised eyebrows among commentators and his own colleagues for viewing every briefing in the Shadow Cabinet as part of his responsibility.

In addition to his mid-level justice briefing, he frequently cited his former home affairs expertise; The shadow chancellor’s role was towards the Treasury, defence, communities and housing, to name a few.

He made headlines last May when he filmed himself approaching three men at Stratford station in east London in a bid to show the extent of evading passengers in the capital.

He was also the subject of comments regarding his apparent weight loss and eventually admitted to using weight-loss medications.

While she denies she plans to join Reform, Ms Badenoch has made several warm overtures to Mr Farage, despite them going against the party line.

In April, he was recorded proposing a ‘coalition’ to unite Tory and Reform UK voters at the next election.

He told Tory students that centre-right voters must unite ‘one way or another’ to ensure Keir Starmer ‘doesn’t cross the middle’ again.

But just six weeks ago he publicly denied he was going anywhere, telling Times Radio: ‘It wasn’t that long ago that I was running for leader of the Conservative Party, so I’m not going anywhere.’

Born in Wolverhampton and raised in Shropshire, Mr Jenrick had working-class parents but attended Cambridge.

He trained as a lawyer and previously worked in corporate law at leading international law firms in London and Moscow.

The father of three made the most of his humble roots during the Conservative Party leadership election campaign.

He later posed with his parents and wife Michal Berkner, who is nine years his senior, and made headlines for his unhappy reaction to losing the leadership election.

Theresa May, who won Newark (including Mr Farage) in the 2014 by-election, promoted him to Treasury secretary in January 2018.

Mrs May’s passing was compounded when Boris Johnson promoted her to secretary of state for housing, communities and local government when the former prime minister took office in July 2019.

But his time at the cabinet table ended in controversy, with him being sacked after a series of high-profile and damaging incidents. Illegal endorsement of a Conservative donor’s housing development and jaw-dropping road trips during lockdown.

Liz Truss’s arrival at Number 10 saw her return to Government for a brief stint at the Department of Health.

Mr Jenrick was later appointed immigration minister with the appointment of Rishi Sunak in October 2022.

But despite Mr Sunak’s determination to do ‘everything necessary’ to make the Rwanda plan work, Mr Jenrick shocked Westminster by resigning and becoming one of the Prime Minister’s harshest backbencher critics.