In a seismic shift for British politics, former Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has defected to Reform UK, dealing a major blow to Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. The move was announced by Reform leader Nigel Farage on Thursday 15 January 2026, who claimed Ms Badenoch had handed him the recruit "on a plate".
A Defection Forged in Conflict
The dramatic switch follows Jenrick's shock sacking from the shadow cabinet by Ms Badenoch. The Tory leader stated she had received "clear, irrefutable evidence" that her former leadership rival was planning to leave the party in a manner designed to inflict maximum damage on colleagues. Consequently, the Conservative whip was removed from Mr Jenrick and his party membership suspended.
Ms Badenoch elaborated to Sky News, accusing Jenrick of planning to "torch" the Tories upon his exit. "The worst thing was that the way he was planning to do it was not just about leaving but hurting the other people in the party," she said. She urged Reform to consider the character of a recruit "very happy to hurt his... colleagues".
Prominent Tory figures, including former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, have called for the publication of evidence reportedly showing speech notes heavily critical of colleagues.
Jenrick's Scathing Indictment of the Conservatives
At the Reform UK press conference in Westminster, Robert Jenrick launched a blistering attack on his former party. He asserted that the Conservatives "won't change, can't change, and haven't changed", stating he had lost trust in their approach to key issues like immigration.
He revealed a telling shadow cabinet debate where he claimed Britain was "broken", a view he said was stifled by the party line. "If they won't admit publicly to you, the British people, what they broke, what possible faith can you have in them to fix it?" he asked.
Jenrick also alleged that the Tory leadership knowingly endorsed unworkable policies. He recalled a Cabinet meeting in Downing Street where a plan to stop small boat crossings was signed off, despite everyone present knowing "in their hearts it was not going to work. Some even joked about it." This moment, he claimed, resolved him to resign.
Farage's Coup and the Political Realignment
Nigel Farage welcomed his new recruit with open arms, framing the defection as a historic moment for the centre-right. He thanked Kemi Badenoch directly, saying she had delivered the man who had "done more than anything in history" to realign centre-right politics in Britain.
Jenrick used his platform to outline a grim picture of the UK, accusing both Labour and the Conservatives of breaking the country. He cited stark statistics:
- 93% of crime goes unresolved.
- The army is at its smallest since Napoleonic times.
- 193,000 people have arrived via small boats since 2018.
- Net migration is 100 times higher in the 25 years after 1997 than the 25 years before it.
He concluded that "one in five people in Britain weren't born here," framing it as part of the most profound demographic change in the nation's history.
The defection marks a stunning fall from grace for a figure once seen as a centrist, and now described by some as a "Trumpian hellraiser". It signals a deepening fracture on the British right and a significant boost for Reform UK's ambition to replace the Conservatives as the main alternative to Labour.
