An internal party dispute plunged the British Conservatives into a political crisis. In a video on social media, party leader Kemi Badenoch announced that she had kicked Robert Jenrick, who was responsible for justice in her shadow cabinet, from the party. She has irrefutable evidence that he wants to join the right-wing Reform UK party. With Jenrick, 16 former Conservative MPs have so far switched to Reform UK.
When Badenoch was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 2024Jenrick was her strongest opponent. Member of Parliament for the central English constituency of Newark since 2014 and a Conservative since the age of 16, the now 44-year-old has held numerous political offices during his parliamentary career.
He made a name for himself by resigning as immigration minister in the Sunak government because, unlike his colleagues, he wanted to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights. Insiders say Jenrick never recovered from losing to Badenoch in 2024. He simply continued his campaigns as a right-wing mouthpiece on social media.
Right-wing Reform UK is losing popularity
In opinion polls, the British Conservatives have mostly been in third place since the 2024 national election, while the right-wing Reform UK is at the top. However, a YouGov poll on January 13 showed Reform UK losing support, with the Tories just ahead of Labor in second place.
So it was surprising that the Conservative Nadhim Zahawi’s defection to Reform UK began just this week. Zahawi was once general secretary under Rishi Sunak and briefly finance minister under Boris Johnson. In 2023 he lost his general secretary post when it became clear that he was being questioned by the authorities about tax evasion. The reason for his defection was allegedly party leader Badenoch’s rejection of his promotion to the British House of Lords.
On Thursday, it only took a few hours for Jenrick to actually declare his defection to Reform UK at a well-attended press conference, sitting next to Nigel Farage. During his speech, he insulted former colleagues with terms such as “rotten” and “dishonest”. You would have both taxes and Immigration numbers rise to a record high let it go, says Jenrick. It’s as if he hadn’t been part of the former Tory government himself.
Now the question is which party represents conservative politics in Great Britain. Tory party leader Badenoch said combatively that her party was now pulling together in a collegial manner. In this sense, Jenrick is now Farage’s problem.
No old people’s home for washed-up Tories
Farage, for his part, warned the Conservatives that such defections would only be allowed until the local and general elections in Scotland and Wales on May 7th.
Apparently he has recognized that the accusation that his party could become a retirement home for worn-out Tories, rather than a party of renewal – like the left Daily Mirror formulated – Reform UK could be dangerous. At the same time, Farage emphasized that it was important for his party to have people with experience in government.
The question of Farage’s successor has been raised several times. Jenrick, who has often been criticized for emulating Farage, would have both the ambition and the age to do so.