‘Britain is not broken’ says Badenoch after Jenrick split
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch insisted Britain was not broken after former minister Robert Jenrick criticized the party for failing to campaign in that direction.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, “Ours is still one of the most successful, resilient and influential countries in the world,” he said, adding that telling voters their “country is finished” only “drags them down.”
He also insisted the Conservatives were stronger after Jenrick was sacked and joined Reform.
Inside Interview with BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg On Friday, Jenrick said a shadow cabinet meeting at which colleagues disagreed that the country was broken was the final straw for him.
In his editorial, Badenoch said there were problems in Britain, some of which were getting worse, but the country’s best days were ahead.
He insisted the Conservatives were best placed to offer solutions to the country’s problems and said the Reforms were doomed to fail because they welcomed “toxic people” who were “destroying organisations”.
“A movement built on grievance and serial disloyalty is doomed to fail and they will soon be at each other’s throats,” the opposition leader wrote.
Separately Editorial in the Daily Express“Some things in Britain are broken, but not beyond repair,” Badenoch said.
He also criticized politicians who “belittle Britain rather than show they have plans to rebuild Britain”.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight on Friday, Reform UK deputy chairman Richard Tice praised Jenrick as “the only cabinet minister to resign from the Conservative government on a matter of principle”.
This was in reference to Jenrick’s decision to resign from Rishi Sunak’s government, saying it had not gone far enough to find a solution to skyrocketing immigration levels.
Tice continued: “This makes him uniquely qualified to explain where things have gone so badly on immigration, both legal and illegal, that has angered tens of millions of Brits.”
Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Saturday, Tice added: “Robert has a tremendous amount of experience and we were criticized for not having the experience of being able to manage and manage things – and now we’re bringing in someone with that experience and we’re still being criticized.”
Badenoch said Jenrick’s departure “was never about principle, it was about ambition” and that “every criticism he has made now was made while he was in government”.
He wrote that the Conservative party was now a “stronger and more united team”.
Badenoch hopes sacking Jenrick will strengthen his position as Conservative Party leader and make him appear determined.
But Reform UK now has a leading new MP who is determined to make it public that he sees many of the mistakes of his old party.
