Robert Jenrick was dismissed as shadow justice secretary and suspended from the Conservative Party on Thursday, hours before publicly defecting to Reform UK alongside Nigel Farage. The dramatic move marks a stark political reinvention for the former minister, who had been under defection watch for months and caps a career marked by controversy and shifting allegiances.
Kemi Badenoch moved pre-emptively to sack Jenrick from the shadow cabinet and party before he could announce his departure. The timing proved chaotic - Farage was holding a press conference to unveil Malcolm Offord's defection to Reform Scotland when news broke of Jenrick's dismissal. Jenrick later appeared at a second press conference with Farage, where he confirmed joining Reform. «I didn't know I was going to leave today,» Jenrick said, though he admitted he had been resolved to leave the Conservatives.
Farage responded to the defection with measured caution, noting at the press conference: «We don't take every disaffected Tory.» The Reform UK leader had called Jenrick a "liar and fraud" less than five months ago, making the alliance an unexpected turn. Yet Farage quickly thanked Badenoch for the timing, saying: «Thank you, thank you Kemi.»
Career built on controversy
Jenrick rose from working-class roots in Wolverhampton - his father a gas fitter, mother a secretary - to become the first in his family to attend university. Privately educated at Wolverhampton Grammar School with fees paid by his grandmother's life insurance payout, he read history at Cambridge and qualified as a lawyer before entering politics.
He became an MP in a 2014 Newark by-election and served in various ministerial roles, including communities secretary at age 37 and immigration minister under Rishi Sunak. But his career was repeatedly overshadowed by scandals. As junior housing minister, he overruled a planning inspector to approve a £1 billion luxury housing development for Conservative donor Richard Desmond - a decision later deemed unlawful. The approval came 24 hours before a levy was due, saving Desmond over £40 million. Desmond subsequently donated £12,000 to the Conservatives.
Other controversies followed. He awarded a £25 million government grant to his own constituency from a scheme meant for "left behind" areas. A leaked recording revealed him complaining about not seeing "another white face" while filming in Handsworth, Birmingham, triggering accusations of racism. His proposals to ease planning laws collapsed after a Tory MP revolt.
Breaking with the Conservatives
Jenrick's shift from the liberal wing of the Conservative Party to the populist right accelerated during his time at the Home Office, where supporters said he was "radicalised" in favour of heavy immigration reductions and against the European Convention on Human Rights. He quit Sunak's government in December 2023 and became increasingly critical of his former party.
In his defection statement, Jenrick delivered a scathing assessment of the Conservatives: «The party hasn't changed and it won't. The bulk of the party don't get it. Don't have the stomach for the radical change this country needs.» He claimed to have "put aside his own personal ambition" by joining Reform.
The defection leaves the Conservative Party in further disarray as it struggles to rebuild after its election defeat. Malcolm Offord's planned announcement as Reform Scotland leader was largely overshadowed by the Jenrick drama.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
