In a dramatic political ambush, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch sacked her shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, and expelled him from the party just hours before he was due to defect to Reform UK.
The Leaked Speech That Forced Badenoch's Hand
The explosive move was triggered when senior aides to Badenoch were sent screenshots of what they described as "irrefutably" Jenrick's entire resignation speech and media plan. The documents, received on Monday, revealed his intention to urge fellow Tories to join him in leaving a party that had "lost its way".
This came just four days after Jenrick had spoken "at length" with Badenoch on the phone about party strategy, and a week after he participated in a shadow cabinet away day. Despite long-standing rumours about his loyalty, the Tory leader had lacked concrete proof until the speech landed in her team's inbox.
"Kemi was regretful; she wished we weren't in this position," a source close to the leader said. "But she was absolutely clear and focused: Rob had to go." Fearing that Nigel Farage would hint at the defection during a scheduled BBC appearance, Badenoch's team advised immediate action to control the narrative.
A Swift Expulsion and a Denied Defection
There was no attempt at a last-minute reconciliation. Badenoch delegated the dismissal call to her chief whip, Rebecca Harris, a move described by one ally as "delicious". According to a shadow cabinet source, Jenrick angrily denied his plans to defect during that call.
However, the Tory leader had already pre-recorded a video message, released just after 11am, in which she laid out the charges against him. The video was timed to coincide with a Farage press conference in Scotland, forcing journalists to confront the Reform leader with the news. In it, Badenoch told party members they "deserve better" than MPs who defect.
The pre-emptive strike initially appeared to catch Farage off guard. "It sounds to me like she's panicked," he said of Badenoch, insisting no deal was yet done with Jenrick. He told journalists he would call the MP and "might even buy him a pint".
Euphoria, Condemnation, and a Final Twist
Within Conservative ranks, Badenoch's decisive action drew widespread, if sometimes grudging, praise. Her team was "euphoric to have got one over on her former leadership rival". One MP said she had "got some cojones", while another called her an "Iron Lady with a titanium overlay".
Condemnation of Jenrick was swift and severe. He was labelled a "coward" and a "traitor" by fellow Tory MPs. A former cabinet minister stated: "Jenrick was a snake in the grass in the Rishi years, you cannot trust him."
Yet the drama was not over. Later that afternoon, at a scheduled Reform UK event in London's Millbank Tower, Farage confirmed the worst-kept secret in Westminster. In a twist, he claimed Jenrick hadn't been planning to join Reform imminently and "might not have joined at all", accusing Badenoch of handing him "on a plate the man that is by far the most popular figure" in the Tory party.
After a tense two-minute delay—where Jenrick reportedly got lost in the building—the MP finally arrived to launch a scathing attack on his former party. He railed against its "rotten" state and personally criticised senior colleagues Priti Patel and Mel Stride, exactly as predicted in his leaked speech.
Under questioning, Jenrick admitted he had resolved to defect some time before being sacked, despite telling a journalist he would "never, ever defect" just the previous Friday. His defection marks the highest-profile capture yet for Reform UK, though the absence of the party's policy chief, Zia Yusuf—who has previously called Jenrick a "traitor"—hinted at internal scepticism about welcoming former Tory ministers.
