Former senior Tory Robert Jenrick has defected to Reform UK after being sacked by Kemi Badenoch.
The ex-Conservative leadership hopeful was dramatically ousted as shadow justice secretary and suspended from the Tory party on Thursday morning.
Just moments before his defection was announced, Ms Badenoch told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby many Tory and Reform people had been telling her Mr Jenrick was about to defect but she “believed him when he said he wasn’t going to do that” just a few days before.
However, she was shown “very clear evidence” in the form of a defection speech he was going to give.
There was instant speculation Mr Jenrick was defecting to Reform, but he remained quiet until moments before a Thursday afternoon Nigel Farage news conference, just posting on X: “It’s time for the truth.”
Mr Farage then announced Mr Jenrick was defecting to Reform, although he said he did not know that was going to happen hours before, as he thanked Ms Badenoch for speeding up Mr Jenrick’s defection.
He welcomed Mr Jenrick to the stage, however, he did not appear straight away, and there were a few awkward minutes before he did.
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All the former Conservative MPs who have defected to Reform
The newest former Tory MP member of Reform then launched a scathing attack on the Tories, saying they “don’t have the stomach for the radical change this country needs”.
“I can’t kid myself anymore,” he said.
“The party hasn’t changed and it won’t.”
He said both the Tories and Labour “broke Britain” and have no senior members with “the competence or the backbone needed to fix it”.
Mr Jenrick said he did not intend to call a by-election in his Newham constituency.
Mr Farage admitted he had doubts that Mr Jenrick’s political journey, from centrist Tory remainer to staunchly anti-immigration, but he was convinced over the summer that he has been “on a genuine journey, is viewing the country very differently”.
The Reform leader said his resignation as immigration minister during the last government over the Rwanda policy not going far enough “really swung it” for him.
He revealed they had been in “advanced talks” about Mr Jenrick joining Reform but it had not been planned for Thursday, or even this week or month.
Mr Jenrick said he did not know he was going to leave the Tories when he woke up on Thursday but was resolved he would at some point, and said he can now get on with helping Mr Farage sooner.
The Reform leader said Mr Jenrick will be “joining our front line team” and said he thinks he will “bring a lot more people and voters to us”.
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