Robert Jenrick hit out at the Tory Party as he defected to Reform UK at a press conference today.
In a punchy speech, the former shadow justice secretary said his ex-party had “betrayed its voters and members” and was “in denial – or being dishonest” about what it had done.
He said: “In betraying its principles, the Conservative Party betrayed its voters and members.”
The press conference unveiling Mr Jenrick’s defection had been thrown into chaos when he did not arrive immediately.
Nigel Farage announced that the former senior Conservative was joining his ranks and called him to the stage but it was several minutes before he appeared sparking confusion.
Reform leader Mr Farage joked: “This really would put the tin lid on the whole thing.”
Robert Jenrick finally defects to Reform as he slams Tory ‘betrayal’
Robert Jenrick’s move from the Conservative Party to Reform UK was one of the most dramatic political defections of 2026, bringing a former Conservative leadership contender onto Nigel Farage’s side of Britain’s increasingly fragmented right.
The move followed an extraordinary sequence of events. Kemi Badenoch removed Jenrick from the Conservative frontbench and suspended his party membership after saying she had “irrefutable evidence” that he was secretly preparing to defect. Hours later, Jenrick appeared alongside Farage and formally announced that he was joining Reform.
What had been speculation for months suddenly became reality.
Jenrick did not present his decision simply as a change of political allegiance. He used the occasion to deliver a broad criticism of the Conservatives, arguing that the party had failed to learn from its electoral defeat and had not made the changes he believed were necessary.
For the Conservatives, the departure was particularly significant because Jenrick was not an ordinary backbencher. He had served as a government minister, had been shadow justice secretary and had challenged Badenoch in the Conservative leadership contest.
His arrival therefore gave Reform a politician with considerable experience of Conservative politics and Westminster.
A defection that almost happened differently
The circumstances surrounding Jenrick’s departure were unusually dramatic.
For some time there had been speculation that he could leave the Conservatives. According to reporting by the Guardian, discussions between Jenrick and Reform had begun as early as September 2025.
But the timing of the final announcement was not entirely under Jenrick’s control.
On 15 January 2026, Badenoch announced that Jenrick had been removed from the shadow cabinet and suspended from the Conservative Party.
She said she had received evidence indicating that he was planning to defect to Reform.
Jenrick initially remained publicly silent. Farage, meanwhile, appeared to suggest that the situation had moved faster than expected.
Later that day, however, the mystery disappeared.
Farage introduced Jenrick at a Reform press conference in Westminster, confirming that the former Conservative minister had joined the party.
Sky News reported that Jenrick became Reform’s sixth MP at the time of his defection.
The moment was highly symbolic. Reform had spent years positioning itself as an alternative to the Conservative Party. Now one of the Conservatives’ most prominent younger politicians was standing beside Farage.
Jenrick’s attack on his former party
Jenrick did not leave quietly.
His explanation centred on what he regarded as a failure by the Conservatives to change after their disastrous 2024 general election result.
He argued that the party had failed to acknowledge the reasons for its defeat and had not developed the political programme he believed was required to rebuild support.
In comments reported by ITV, Jenrick said the Conservative Party was “over” and had “no future”. He also said that the party had failed to learn the lessons of its time in government.
His criticism extended beyond Badenoch’s leadership.
Jenrick argued that both Labour and the Conservatives had failed the country, presenting Reform as a vehicle for what he described as more fundamental political change.
That argument is important because it reveals how Jenrick wanted his defection to be understood.
He was not portraying himself as simply abandoning a party because of an internal disagreement. He was presenting the move as a response to what he considered a deeper political failure.
Whether voters accept that argument is a separate question.
The “betrayal” accusation
The language surrounding the defection quickly became personal.
Conservative figures accused Jenrick of betraying colleagues and party members. The Conservatives argued that he had been elected as a Conservative and had subsequently decided to join another political organisation while retaining his parliamentary seat.
The issue was particularly sensitive because Jenrick chose not to resign his seat and trigger a by-election.
He remained the MP for Newark while sitting as a Reform MP.
That decision generated competing arguments.
Supporters of Jenrick’s position could argue that MPs are elected as individuals and are not legally required to resign when they change party affiliation.
Critics argued that voters had elected him under the Conservative banner and should therefore have been given an opportunity to decide whether they wanted to continue with him under a Reform banner.
The debate is not unique to Jenrick. British parliamentary politics has a long history of MPs changing parties without automatically triggering by-elections.
But the issue becomes particularly sensitive when the change is between two parties competing directly for many of the same voters.
A long rivalry with Farage
Jenrick’s arrival was also striking because his relationship with Farage had not always been friendly.
Before joining Reform, Jenrick had criticised the party and Farage.
ITV reported that the two men had exchanged sharp comments, including Farage’s earlier use of the nickname “Robert Generic”. Jenrick himself had previously spoken about wanting to put Reform out of business.
That history made the eventual defection more politically interesting.
Jenrick had once presented himself as someone who could help the Conservatives compete with Reform. He eventually concluded that the Conservatives could not deliver the political changes he wanted and instead joined the organisation he had previously sought to challenge.
It was a dramatic reversal.
It also demonstrated how quickly political alignments can change when a party’s electoral position and internal direction shift.
Badenoch’s decision
For Badenoch, removing Jenrick before he could announce the defection was a calculated attempt to control the timing and political narrative.
According to the Guardian’s reconstruction of events, Badenoch’s team received material that they believed showed Jenrick was preparing a defection speech and media operation. The Conservative leadership then decided to act before he could make the announcement himself.
That meant Jenrick’s departure became a Conservative disciplinary decision before it became a Reform announcement.
Farage subsequently joked that Badenoch had effectively delivered Jenrick to Reform.
But beneath the political theatre was a serious problem for the Conservative leader.
Jenrick had been one of her rivals in the 2024 leadership contest. His departure removed a prominent figure from her frontbench while simultaneously giving Reform another experienced parliamentarian.
The episode therefore became part of the wider argument about the Conservatives’ future direction.
Why Jenrick mattered to Reform
For Reform, the recruitment had practical as well as symbolic value.
Farage’s party had historically been associated with Brexit campaigning, immigration, opposition to the political establishment and a relatively small parliamentary presence.
Jenrick brought experience of government and the Conservative policy-making process.
He had served as housing secretary and immigration minister under Conservative governments, and later became shadow justice secretary.
That experience gave him knowledge of government departments and parliamentary politics that could be useful to a party attempting to present itself as a potential governing organisation.
His arrival also demonstrated that Reform could attract politicians from the political mainstream rather than relying exclusively on candidates with backgrounds outside Westminster.
But defections also create complications
The recruitment of former Conservatives is not without political difficulties for Reform.
The more former Conservative ministers and MPs join the party, the more opponents can argue that Reform is absorbing politicians who were themselves involved in the political system Farage frequently criticises.
That creates an inherent tension.
Reform wants to maintain its identity as an alternative to the established parties, but it also needs people with experience of government if it wants to develop detailed programmes across areas such as health, education, defence, taxation and justice.
Jenrick’s arrival illustrates both sides of that equation.
He can point to substantial government experience, but his opponents can point to his own record as a Conservative minister.
How voters interpret that history will depend partly on whether they see his change of party as evidence of political evolution or inconsistency.
The wider Conservative exodus
Jenrick’s defection was not an isolated event.
Other Conservative figures had already moved to Reform, including Nadhim Zahawi and Andrew Rosindell. Reform had also attracted MPs with backgrounds in the Conservative Party and expanded its presence at local and devolved levels.
ITV documented a growing list of former Conservatives who had joined Reform, with Jenrick described as one of the party’s most significant recruits.
The pattern created pressure on Badenoch to demonstrate that the Conservative Party still had a distinctive political future.
At the same time, Reform had to decide how far it wanted to continue recruiting established Conservative figures.
There is a strategic question at the heart of the process: can Reform absorb experienced politicians without becoming perceived simply as a rebranded version of the Conservatives?
Farage has previously suggested that not every Conservative politician seeking a new political home would automatically be accepted.
Jenrick’s recruitment showed that high-profile figures could nevertheless make the transition.
What happened in Newark?
The reaction in Jenrick’s constituency was mixed.
Some Conservative activists described the decision as a betrayal, particularly because Jenrick had retained his parliamentary seat. The Guardian reported that local Conservative figures expressed shock at the decision.
Other voters were more supportive.
Some Newark residents interviewed after the defection said they had voted for Jenrick personally and would continue to support him despite his change of party.
That distinction is important.
A parliamentary constituency is not politically uniform, and voters can have different relationships with individual MPs and national parties.
The response to Jenrick’s defection therefore cannot be reduced to a single local reaction.
A turning point on Britain’s right
Jenrick’s move nevertheless represented a significant moment in the restructuring of Britain’s right.
The Conservatives remain an established political organisation with a long history of government. Reform is a newer party that has expanded rapidly.
The movement of politicians between them reflects a broader contest over voters who are concerned about issues including immigration, taxation, Brexit, national sovereignty and the direction of public services.
Jenrick’s defection gave that contest a highly visible Westminster face.
For Farage, it provided another experienced political figure who could contribute to Reform’s parliamentary operation.
For Badenoch, it created another challenge at a time when the Conservatives were already attempting to rebuild their identity after the 2024 election.
For Jenrick himself, the decision marked the end of his career as a Conservative and the beginning of a new political role under Farage.
His decision also illustrated the increasingly fluid nature of British party politics.
The central question now is not simply why Jenrick left the Conservatives.
It is what he does with his new position.
His record inside government will follow him into Reform, just as his criticisms of the Conservatives will shape expectations about what he believes the new party should do differently.
The Conservatives will continue trying to demonstrate that they can recover without following Reform’s political model.
Reform, meanwhile, will need to show that the arrival of experienced Conservative politicians strengthens rather than changes the political identity it has spent years developing.
Jenrick’s defection was therefore more than one MP changing parties.
It was another visible sign of a British political system in which traditional party loyalties are becoming less fixed, political identities are being renegotiated and competition on the right is becoming increasingly direct.