Robert Jenrick sacked by Kemi Badenoch after ‘plotting to defect’

Kemi Badenoch said she has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow frontbench and kicked him out of the Tory party due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible” to his Conservative colleagues.

The Opposition leader did not specify which party Mr Jenrick was planning to switch to, but a Conservative source said the now-former shadow justice secretary had met with Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage and had spoken of a defection to the party.

Mr Farage said he has “of course” had conversations with the senior frontbencher, and suggested he would speak to Mr Jenrick on Thursday.

West Sussex Tory MP Nick Timothy, a former Home Office adviser to Theresa May, is taking on the Newark MP’s former shadow cabinet role, the Tory leader announced later on Thursday.

Sir Keir Starmer meanwhile questioned why it took “so long” for Mrs Badenoch to sack Mr Jenrick, whom the Prime Minister accused of making “toxic comments to try and divide our country”.

Mr Jenrick has attracted speculation about his ambitions since being beaten in the party’s 2024 leadership contest, and has repeatedly stepped out of the shadow cabinet line.

Mrs Badenoch said on X: “I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect.

“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.

“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.”

Reacting to Mrs Badenoch’s announcement, Mr Farage insisted he was “very surprised” the news had broken and would “never reveal private conversations” as he spoke at a press conference in Scotland on Thursday.

But asked again whether he had been in talks with the former Tory frontbencher, he added: “Of course, I’ve talked to Robert Jenrick. Was I on the verge of signing a document with him? No. But have we had conversations? Yes.”

He added: “I think virtually every Conservative is considering leaving the Conservatives, yes.”

Asked if this included Mr Jenrick, he replied: “I think that’s been in his mind, yes. I’ve little doubt it’s been in his mind.”

“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” the Reform UK leader also said, adding: “I might even buy him a pint.”

The Reform leader is set to give a second presser in Westminster later on Thursday, but his party has denied it is related to the defection.

Mrs Badenoch later said she was “delighted” to announce Mr Timothy had become shadow justice secretary, adding: “He is a true Conservative, brings a wealth of experience, and is a formidable campaigner.”

Asked about Mr Jenrick’s sacking during a visit to Scotland, Sir Keir said: “My question is: why did it take so long?”

Referring to Mr Jenrick’s complaint last year that he “didn’t see another white face” in an area of Birmingham, the Prime Minister added: “Jenrick has been making toxic comments to try and divide our country for months, and months, and months, but it’s only now, when he’s on the verge of defecting to Reform, that Badenoch gets around to sacking him.

“So, that’s weakness on her part.

“There’s a bigger story here, because we’re seeing a flood of Tory politicians, ex-politicians, going across to Reform because they know that the Tory Party is a sinking ship.

“Equally, from Reform’s point of view, you’ve got Nigel Farage who is welcoming these failed politicians into his ranks and building his party as a party of the Tory politicians who let the country down so badly.”

A string of high-profile Tory figures have jumped ship to Reform, including former ministers Nadhim Zahawi, Dame Andrea Jenkyns, Jonathan Gullis and Nadine Dorries – forcing Mr Farage to deny his outfit is becoming “the Conservative Party 2.0”.

Sir Keir, Mrs Badenoch and Mr Farage were all north of the border on unrelated political visits on Thursday ahead of the Scottish Parliament election, with the Conservative leader due to speak to the media in the afternoon.

A Tory source told the Press Association the party had received “lots of reports coming in that he (Mr Jenrick) was meeting with Reform”.

“He went for dinner with Nigel Farage last month, he had been speaking to people within Westminster about the possibility of a defection.

“His team has spoken to various people, including journalists, about defection,” the source said.

They added: “Kemi doesn’t take decisions lightly, she thinks about these things, she analyses things properly. But the evidence was just totally irrefutable that this was going to be done to inflict maximum pain on the party.”

Tory chief whip Rebecca Harris informed Mr Jenrick he had been sacked and had the whip and his Conservative Party membership suspended, the source said.

Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake called Mr Jenrick’s move “treacherous” as he suggested the ex-shadow minister had reacted poorly to his defeat in the Tory leadership contest.

Mr Hollinrake told the BBC: “It’s fair to say Rob didn’t take losing the leadership contest very well, so I think it’s been difficult at times with Rob trying to get him on side.

“We didn’t expect this. We didn’t want this. But having seen what we’ve seen, there was no other course of action Kemi could take.”

When asked by Sky News if he thought there was “no way back” for Mr Jenrick, the Tory chairman said: “That’s right. We’re very clear on that.”

In a sign of the sudden nature of Mrs Badenoch’s decision to sack Mr Jenrick, he did not appear in Parliament to present a Bill on behalf of the Tories as detailed in the Commons order paper.

A source told The Times that Mrs Badenoch’s team obtained a copy of a drafted resignation speech by Mr 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.

The Telegraph, meanwhile, reported that Mr Jenrick was due to take two allies with him in the defection to Reform, also citing a Conservative source.

The Liberal Democrats said the sacking “makes The Traitors’ roundtable look united”.

A party source said: “The country deserves better than a clapped-out Labour Government and the same old Conservative chaos.”