Senior Conservatives have called on Kemi Badenoch to release evidence Robert Jenrick was ‘plotting to defect’ from the party after his sensational sacking from the shadow cabinet.
Ms Badenoch ruthlessly kicked out her former leadership rival out of the party after revealing she had seen ‘irrefutable evidence’ he was intending to betray her.
Some Conservatives are now calling on the leader to produce the damning discovery as Mr Jenrick apparently protested his innocence when confronted earlier today.
Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg told Sky News: ‘It’s either a very good decision or a very bad one. And I think it’s crucially important that the evidence is provided.’
It is claimed Mr Jenrick was sacked after colleagues discovered a near-completed resignation speech lying around. Mr Jenrick is yet to issue a response to his dismissal.
Nigel Farage claimed he was ‘very surprised’ by Mr Jenrick’s sacking as he denied plans to unveil him as Reform’s latest defection in London this afternoon.
Follow the latest updates and reaction below
Watch: Nigel Farage says he’s ‘very surprised’ by Jenrick sacking
Reacting to Kemi Badenoch’s announcement she has sacked Robert Jenrick from her front bench, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said:
I’m very surprised that this news is broken.
Asked if he had been speaking to Mr Jenrick, the Reform leader said that while he never reveals his private conservations, he has held talks with senior Conservatives over the course of the last week and month.
Pressed again about whether he had spoken to the now ex-shadow justice secretary, Mr Farage said:
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.
Mr Farage was asked again if Mr Jenrick had been considering leaving the Tories for Reform, and said he thinks ‘virtually every Conservative’ is considering leaving the party.
Jenrick ‘first reached out to Farage in September’
Robert Jenrick has just revealed he first reached out to Nigel Farage in September.
He claimed he contacted Reform but had not decided to defect at that stage.
Jenrick ‘late to Reform stage because he was rewriting his speech’
Addressing a lengthy delay between Nigel Farage announcing Jenrick had defected to reform and him actually appearing on stage, a Tory source said he was busy rewriting his speech to take out the parts that had been released to the media by his former party.
Just as he was about to take to the stage, the Conservatives released extracts of a speech they say was the evidence of ex-shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick’s planned defection to Reform UK.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: ‘We have taken the decision to release extracts of the evidence we have been passed of Robert Jenrick’s planned defection. We are in no doubt whatsoever about Jenrick’s involvement in the drafting of these words and his intention to stab his Conservative colleagues in the back.’
According to the extracts, Mr Jenrick’s speech was to say: ‘The Tories and Labour have forfeited the right to govern the United Kingdom. And the mantle now passes to Reform.
‘Nigel has stood for the real change we need for over a decade. If one puts party allegiance – personal ambition – to one side, he is obviously the right person to lead the movement for it – and delivery of it. And I am convinced Nigel will deliver the real change needed.’
Jenrick says both Labour and Conservatives ‘broke Britain’
In a lengthy speech, Robert Jenrick has argued that Britain is ‘completely broken’ and ‘in decline’ – blaming both Labour and the Conservatives.
Listing a raft of issues, Jenrick said wages are ‘flatlining’, energy prices are among the highest in the developed world and taxes are rising.
He criticised NHS waiting lists, court backlogs, unemployment levels and rising taxes.
‘Those that came before us built a great country, the greatest country in the world. But we are set to lose it,’ he said.
He later added: ‘Both Labour and the Conservatives broke Britain, and both are now dominated by those without the competence or the backbone needed to fix it.
‘Both parties, if judged by their own actions, are committed to a set of ideas that have failed and are failing Britain. Labour started mass migration, but the Conservatives ramped it up after 2019.’
Farage thanks Badenoch for sacking newest Reform UK MP
Nigel Farage told journalists he would ‘buy Kemi lunch next week and say thank you’ as he confirmed Robert Jenrick was joining Reform UK.
‘I’ve had to think very quickly as to how I should respond to this, and I just want to say thank you to Kemi Badenoch, this is the latest Christmas present I’ve ever had,’ the Reform UK leader told a press conference.
‘The negotiations with Jenrick are over. There’s nothing more to be said or to be done. You’ve handed me on a plate the man that is by far the most popular figure, 60% approval rating on ConHome… you’ve perhaps today, really done anything more than anybody in history to help realign the centre-right of British politics, which is much needed against a dreadful Labour Government and increasingly worrying extreme left-wing voice in this country.
‘So I can’t offer you drinks all round, but I’ll buy Kemi lunch next week and say thank you.’
Badenoch: ‘I had to sack Jenrick, it was the right thing to do’
Away from the press conference in London, when asked by broadcasters why she had sacked Robert Jenrick, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘It was something that I had to do.
‘I have been hearing from so many people, not just in the Conservative Party, but even people in Reform telling me that Robert was about to defect and I didn’t do anything, because I believed him when he said he wasn’t going to do that.
‘Then I was shown very, very clear evidence, and I made the decision because I have to look after all of the people in the Conservative Party, not just him.’
She added: ‘So I did what I had to do. I did the right thing.’
Jenrick: ‘Britain is in decline’
Robert Jenrick has now taken to the stage at Reform UK’s press conference in Westminster.
It’s time for the truth. Britain has been in decline, Britain is in decline.
Criticising the state of the economy, record court backlogs and defence funding, the former Shadow Justice Secretary went on to speak about migration.
He claimed that ‘terrorists have broken into Britain on small boats’ and that ‘one in five people in Britain are not born here’.
Farage confirms Jenrick has joined Reform
Nigel Farage has just confirmed that Robert Jenrick has defected to Reform UK.
But all did not go smoothly after Farage asked those in attendance to welcome the former Shadow Justice Secretary to the stage – only for him not to turn up.
‘He’s not changed his mind has he?’ Farage quipped.
After a delay, Jenrick did enter the room and confirmed he would now serve as a Reform MP.
Farage begins press conference in London as he accuses Tories of ‘jumping the gun’
Nigel Farage has just started speaking in London. He begins by saying he had planned to speak about local elections being delayed for millions of people next year, some for the second year in a row.
Farage said he intended to announce the launch of a legal paper against the proposals, but this will now not take place for a ‘couple of days’ after this morning’s events.
He said Baednoch ‘jumped the gun’ in sacking Jenrick and that it was the ‘latest Christmas present I’ve ever received.’
Robert Jenrick: ‘It’s time for truth’
Moments before the start of Reform’s press conference, Robert Jenrick has taken to social media with a short statement.
‘It’s time for truth,’ he wrote on X.
This will certainly fuel speculation he is about to confirm a defection to Reform.
Reports Jenrick ‘may appear at Reform press conference’
Westminster is awash with rumours that former Conservative shadow minister Robert Jenrick could appear alongside Nigel Farage at a Reform press conference shortly.
Farage had planned to hold the conference focussing on potential delays to local elections for millions next year.
As a reminder, Farage earlier claimed that he was ‘yet to decide’ whether Jenrick would be allowed to join Reform.
We’ll bring you all the latest from the press conference as soon as it starts.
New Shadow Justice Secretary thanks Badenoch for ‘trust’ after Jenrick sacking
The Conservatives’ new Shadow Justice Secretary has thanked leader Kemi Badenoch for ‘putting your trust in me’.
Nick Timothy, MP for West Suffolk, took to social media after his appointment was announced a short while ago.
He said: ‘Thank you, Kemi, for putting your trust in me. It will be an honour to serve, and I can’t wait to get started.
‘Sorting our human rights laws and fixing our courts and prisons are huge jobs. But first, we will fight Labour’s plans to curb jury trials.’
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Tories call on Kemi Badenoch to release evidence of Robert Jenrick’s ‘defection plot’ after sacking him: Live reaction and updates
