Sir Keir Starmer responded to Robert Jenrick’s apparent defection (Image: Getty)
A jubilant Sir Keir Starmer has spoken out after the apparent defection of top Tory Robert Jenrick caused turmoil for both the Conservatives and Reform. The Prime Minister called the Tories a “sinking ship” and said Reform had become a home for failed politicians.
Sir Keir responded after Kemi Badenoch said she had sacked Robert Jenrick as shadow justice secretary and kicked him out of the party due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect”. It meant she ruined what appeared to be a Reform plan to announce the defection itself, although Mr Jenrick has not confirmed that he was planning to switch. Sir Keir questioned why it took Mrs Badenoch “so long” to sack Mr Jenrick as the senior Tory faced accusations of defecting to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
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The Prime Minister told broadcasters during a visit to Scotland: “My question is: why did it take so long?
“Jenrick has been making toxic comments to try and divide our country for months, and months, and months, but it’s only now, when he’s on the verge of defecting to Reform, that Badenoch gets around to sacking him. So, that’s weakness on her part.
“There’s a bigger story here, because we’re seeing a flood of Tory politicians, ex-politicians, going across to Reform because they know that the Tory party is a sinking ship.
“Equally, from Reform’s point of view, you’ve got Nigel Farage who is welcoming these failed politicians into his ranks and building his party as a party of the Tory politicians who let the country down so badly.”
A Conservative source said the now-former shadow justice secretary had met Mr Farage and had spoken about defecting to the insurgent party.
Mr Farage said he has “of course” had conversations with the senior frontbencher, and suggested he would speak to Mr Jenrick on Thursday.
Mr Jenrick has attracted speculation about leadership ambitions since being beaten in his bid to take over the party’s reins in 2024. He has repeatedly stepped out beyond his Shadow Cabinet brief.
Mrs Badenoch said on X: “I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect.
“The British public are tired of political psychodrama, and so am I. They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this Government.
“I will not repeat those mistakes.”
Reacting to Mrs Badenoch’s announcement, Mr Farage insisted he was “very surprised” the news had broken and would “never reveal private conversations” as he spoke at a press conference in Edinburgh on Thursday.
But asked again whether he had been in talks with the former Tory frontbencher, he added: “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.”
He added: “I think virtually every Conservative is considering leaving the Conservatives, yes.”
Asked if this included Mr Jenrick, he replied: “I think that’s been in his mind, yes. I’ve little doubt it’s been in his mind.
“I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,” the Reform UK leader also said, adding: “I might even buy him a pint.”
A Tory source told the Press Association that the party had received “lots of reports coming in that he [Mr Jenrick] was meeting with Reform”.
The source added: “He went for dinner with Nigel Farage last month, he had been speaking to people within Westminster about the possibility of a defection.
“His team has spoken to various people, including journalists, about defection.”
They added: “Kemi doesn’t take decisions lightly, she thinks about these things, she analyses things properly. But the evidence was just totally irrefutable that this was going to be done to inflict maximum pain on the party.”
Keir Starmer breaks his silence on Robert Jenrick ‘defection’ to Reform
Keir Starmer has weighed in on Robert Jenrick’s dramatic decision to leave the Conservative Party and join Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, as the defection triggered another round of debate about the future of Britain’s political right.
Jenrick’s move was already one of the most significant defections from the Conservatives to Reform. What made the episode particularly striking was the manner in which it unfolded.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch removed Jenrick from the shadow cabinet and suspended his party membership after saying she had received “irrefutable evidence” that he was secretly planning to defect. Hours later, Jenrick appeared alongside Farage and formally announced that he had joined Reform.
For Starmer, the episode provided an opportunity to comment on the continuing movement of Conservative politicians towards Reform.
Starmer’s response
Starmer’s intervention was notable because the defection was, on the surface, primarily a dispute within the opposition.
Jenrick was a Conservative MP before his move. Reform was competing directly with the Conservatives for many of the same voters. Labour therefore had no direct role in the dispute between Jenrick and Badenoch.
But the prime minister had a clear political interest in the wider development.
The arrival of another prominent Conservative figure in Reform reinforced the increasingly fragmented nature of Britain’s opposition politics.
Starmer argued that Conservative politicians were moving to Reform because they recognised that the Conservative Party was struggling to offer a convincing alternative.
In comments reported by ITV, Starmer said former Conservative politicians were defecting because they knew the Tory party was a “sinking ship”.
That was a political interpretation rather than an independently measurable explanation for every individual defection.
Jenrick himself offered a different explanation.
He said he had concluded that the Conservatives were no longer capable of delivering what he regarded as necessary political change.
Jenrick’s dramatic announcement
The events of 15 January unfolded unusually quickly.
Badenoch announced that Jenrick had been dismissed from his position as shadow justice secretary and that the Conservative whip had been removed.
She said she had been presented with evidence that he was planning to defect in a way designed to cause maximum damage to the Conservative Party.
Jenrick then joined Farage at a Reform press conference.
The event itself was chaotic. Farage announced that Jenrick would join him on stage, but Jenrick did not immediately appear, leaving Farage waiting in front of journalists.
Eventually, Jenrick arrived and delivered a strong attack on his former party.
He said the Conservatives did not have “the stomach for the radical change” he believed Britain needed.
The former Conservative leadership contender then went considerably further.
He described both Labour and the Conservatives as parties that had failed the country and argued that Reform offered a fundamentally different political direction.
Reuters reported that Jenrick said the two main parties were “rotten” and claimed that both had contributed to Britain’s problems.
Why Starmer’s intervention matters
The prime minister’s response needs to be understood in the context of Britain’s changing party system.
For decades, British politics was dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.
Reform’s rapid growth has complicated that pattern.
The party has attracted former Conservative MPs, local councillors and political figures who previously operated within the established Conservative organisation.
Jenrick was particularly significant because he was not simply a former activist.
He had served as a government minister and had been one of the candidates in the 2024 Conservative leadership contest. He eventually lost to Badenoch, but remained a prominent figure within the party.
His move therefore represented the transfer of considerable political experience to Reform.
Reuters described him as the biggest-name defector to Farage’s party at the time.
For Starmer, that development could be interpreted as part of a broader transformation in opposition politics.
Instead of facing one clearly defined Conservative opposition, Labour increasingly has to operate in an environment where the Conservatives and Reform are competing with each other as well as challenging the government.
Jenrick’s argument
Jenrick’s explanation was not centred on Starmer.
His criticism was directed primarily at his former party.
Speaking after his defection, he said the Conservatives had failed to learn the lessons of their time in government and had not changed sufficiently after their 2024 election defeat.
He subsequently told ITV that he was ashamed of aspects of the previous Conservative government’s record and argued that the party had not changed and would not change.
His decision therefore represented more than a disagreement with Badenoch personally.
Jenrick presented it as a judgement about the Conservative Party’s political direction.
That distinction is important.
The Conservative leadership argued that Jenrick’s conduct demonstrated disloyalty and that Badenoch was right to remove him once his plans became known.
Jenrick argued that leaving was justified because he believed the party was incapable of changing.
Those are competing political interpretations of the same sequence of events.
From rival to Reform recruit
Jenrick’s relationship with Farage made the defection particularly striking.
Only months earlier, Jenrick had been one of the Conservative politicians seeking to compete with Reform.
He had previously said that his objective was to put Reform “out of business” and had criticised Farage’s political approach.
Farage, in turn, had mocked Jenrick publicly, including using the nickname “Robert Generic”.
The eventual partnership therefore represented a substantial reversal.
Farage was understandably keen to highlight the significance of the move.
He thanked Badenoch for what he described as effectively handing him Jenrick and said the defection could contribute to a realignment of the centre-right.
That was Farage’s political framing.
The underlying fact was simpler: a politician who had previously sought to challenge Reform from within the Conservative Party had decided to join it.
A challenge for Badenoch
The episode also created a difficult moment for Kemi Badenoch.
Jenrick had been her opponent in the 2024 Conservative leadership contest. After losing that contest, he remained an important member of the shadow cabinet.
His departure therefore removed a senior politician with a significant public profile.
But the consequences for Badenoch were not necessarily straightforward.
Some Conservative MPs welcomed his departure, arguing that it removed a source of internal disagreement. The Guardian reported that several Conservatives believed Badenoch had handled the situation firmly by acting before Jenrick could stage his own defection announcement.
That demonstrates why the political consequences cannot simply be measured by the loss of one MP.
A defection can weaken a party numerically while simultaneously reducing internal conflict.
The eventual effect depends on how voters, activists and other politicians respond.
Reform’s growing problem of identity
Jenrick’s arrival also created a challenge for Reform.
Farage’s party has long presented itself as an alternative to the established political parties.
Yet Reform is increasingly attracting people who have spent years inside the Conservative establishment.
Jenrick is a particularly prominent example.
He brings government experience, knowledge of Parliament and a detailed understanding of Conservative policy-making.
Those qualities can be useful to a party seeking to develop a broader governing programme.
But they also raise an obvious political question: how different can Reform remain if many of its senior figures previously held positions within the Conservative Party?
Jenrick attempted to address that criticism directly.
He said Reform was a fundamentally new party, despite the presence of former Conservatives within its ranks. He also indicated that the party wanted people from outside Westminster as well as politicians from the traditional parties.
Starmer’s broader political calculation
For Labour, the emergence of Reform creates both challenges and opportunities.
If Reform attracts Conservative voters, it can fragment the opposition vote.
But Reform’s rise also means Labour has a new political competitor.
The party cannot simply assume that dissatisfaction with the Conservatives will automatically translate into Labour support.
Starmer therefore has to respond to Reform on issues such as immigration, taxation, public services, national sovereignty and the economy while maintaining Labour’s own political identity.
The Jenrick defection highlighted that competition.
A former Conservative minister had decided that his political future lay not with Badenoch’s Conservatives but with Farage’s Reform.
Starmer’s comment that the Conservative Party was losing politicians to Reform was therefore part of a broader political argument about the state of the opposition.
Public opinion adds another dimension
Polling also provides a useful context, although it does not establish what voters will ultimately do at a future election.
YouGov’s January 2026 favourability survey found that Jenrick’s personal ratings had fallen following his defection. Among 2024 Conservative voters, the proportion viewing him favourably fell from 30 per cent to 23 per cent, while unfavourable views rose to 39 per cent.
Among Reform voters, however, attitudes were more positive.
That contrast illustrates the political calculation behind switching parties.
A politician may gain support among a new political constituency while losing support among the voters and activists associated with their previous party.
The long-term consequences cannot be determined from a single survey.
More than one defection
Jenrick’s decision also came as Reform was attracting a succession of former Conservatives.
The party had already recruited several politicians with Conservative backgrounds, strengthening its parliamentary and organisational experience.
Reuters reported that Jenrick was the latest in a growing list of current or former Conservative lawmakers joining Reform.
That movement is important because it shows that Reform’s growth is not based exclusively on voters changing their minds.
Political personnel are moving as well.
The process is gradually changing the structure of Britain’s opposition.
What comes next?
For Starmer, the immediate question is not simply whether another Conservative has joined Reform.
It is what the changing opposition means for Labour’s political strategy.
For Badenoch, the challenge is to rebuild the Conservatives around a clear programme and demonstrate that the party can retain its relevance despite Reform’s expansion.
For Farage, the task is different again.
He must turn defections into a coherent political organisation rather than simply a collection of politicians who previously belonged to other parties.
Jenrick’s move gives Reform another experienced parliamentarian, but it also brings expectations.
He now has to explain what he intends to achieve within his new party and how his political record fits with the programme Farage is developing.
The episode also leaves Britain with a striking political picture.
A former Conservative leadership candidate has crossed the floor to Reform. His former leader says she acted because she believed he was secretly preparing to defect. Reform’s leader welcomed him as a major recruit. And the prime minister has used the episode to argue that the Conservatives are losing their political relevance.
Those interpretations remain contested.
The underlying fact, however, is clear: Robert Jenrick’s defection has become another important marker in the changing relationship between the Conservatives and Reform UK.
For Starmer, it is another sign that the political opposition he faces is becoming more fragmented.
For Badenoch, it is another test of Conservative discipline and direction.
And for Farage, it is an opportunity to demonstrate whether the recruitment of established political figures can be converted into a broader and more durable political organisation.