Jenrick: Tories broke Britain

Former frontbencher launches savage attack on Conservatives as he defects to Reform Daily Telegraph 15 January 2026 10:20pm GMT Robert Jenrick declared that the Conservative Party “broke Britain” in a highly personal attack on former colleagues as he defected to Reform UK. Speaking at a press conference alongside Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, on Thursday, Mr Jenrick called his former party “rotten”, “dishonest” and “no longer fit for purpose”.

Arguing that the Tories lacked the “backbone” to solve the country’s problems, the former shadow justice secretary criticised Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, for overseeing an “explosion of the welfare bill” and Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, for enabling “five million migrants to come” to Britain. Writing for The Telegraph, Mr Jenrick also singled out Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative Party leader, saying her team was not “willing to change”. His shock departure will raise fears in Tory circles of more defections to come and strengthen Mr Farage’s claim that Reform, leading in the opinion polls, is now the main political force on the Right. Mr Jenrick joined Reform hours after Mrs Badenoch had sacked him and kicked him out of the Conservative Party, saying she was presented with “clear, irrefutable evidence” that he was conspiring to jump ship. Minutes before Reform’s press conference, the Tories published what appeared to be Mr Jenrick’s draft defection speech. Tory sources claimed it had been left “lying around”. Mr Jenrick’s supporters denied this, saying that his operation was “far too smooth”. But appearing alongside his new colleague in London, Mr Farage said Mrs Badenoch had “jumped the gun” and claimed that, although he had been speaking to Mr Jenrick, the defection was not certain. Setting out his reasons for defecting, Mr Jenrick said: “Our country is in a precarious, dangerous position, and our first loyalty must be to our country. “Turning it around will require us all to speak the truth. And act accordingly. What’s the truth? Both Labour and the Conservatives broke Britain. And both are now dominated by those without the competence or backbone needed to fix it.” In a blistering attack on his former colleagues, Mr Jenrick said: “The Conservative Party failed in government. There is hardly a principle they didn’t betray. “Low taxes? They were left at a 70-year high. Sound money? The debt tripled. Defence? Hollowed. Work should pay? Welfare exploding. Law and order? Prisons overflowing. “In betraying its principles, the Conservative Party betrayed its voters and members.” Writing for The Telegraph, he added: “Kemi, her team, and the party know my views – know that I wanted us to go further so that we could rebuild trust and help fix the country. “But they weren’t and aren’t willing to do that. They aren’t sorry for the damage they’ve done, and they aren’t willing to change.” In a warning shot to the Tories, Mr Farage set a deadline of May 7, the day of the local elections, for others to defect and claimed the election results would end the Conservatives’ status as a national political party. The shock departure left Mr Jenrick’s former senior Conservative colleagues furious. He sat in a shadow cabinet 24 hours before quitting, offering views on the party’s foreign policy strategy. One Tory shadow cabinet minister told the Telegraph: “Like Macbeth, he’s become totally overwhelmed by his own personal ambition such that it has consumed him.” Many Conservatives privately accused Mr Jenrick, who came second to Mrs Badenoch in the 2024 Tory leadership race, of defecting because his hopes of leading the party had faded. Hinting at the trouble that could follow the switch, Mrs Badenoch said: “Robert Jenrick is not my problem anymore. He’s Nigel Farage’s problem now.” One Badenoch ally defended her going public to flush out Mr Jenrick, saying: “What should she have done? Left him there? Waited for him to stab her in the face? She got in first.” Mr Farage claimed that the Tory leader’s public sacking of Mr Jenrick had helped seal the defection, suggesting that talks had been ongoing and that agreement had yet to be struck. But Mr Jenrick said he had personally decided to join Reform before Mrs Badenoch sacked him and had first reached out to Mr Farage as he considered options last September. Both denied a deal had been made to give Mr Jenrick a specific job, though Mr Farage made clear that his new colleague would play a senior role in the party, with announcements on new positions potentially within weeks. Speculation that he could be given the shadow chancellor brief triggered a backlash from some senior Reform figures, with one dubbing it “massively problematic internally”. Both Richard Tice, the deputy leader, and Zia Yusuf, the chairman, have publicly expressed interest in taking up the role. No Reform shadow cabinet posts have been announced. Mr Jenrick refused to trigger a by-election for Newark, the seat he has represented since 2014 and was re-elected as a Conservative candidate just 18 months ago. He also said he had given up any hopes of leading a political party Both Mr Farage and Mr Jenrick laughed off past criticism of each other. Mr Farage once called his new party member a “fraud”; Mr Jenrick said Mr Farage could not be trusted to run Britain. Repeatedly in his 2,000-word speech, Mr Jenrick excoriated not just the party of which he had been a member since 16 but recent colleagues too. Mr Jenrick said: “Now, the people I’m about to mention are all decent people. But I need to explain myself. Look at the top table. “The shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, has rightly attacked Labour for hiking taxes to fund more scrounging. “There’s just one problem. He was the cabinet minister who oversaw the explosion of the welfare bill. And it was him that blocked the reforms needed.” Mr Jenrick smiles as he opens his front garden gate Robert Jenrick returned home on Thursday night after the most decisive day in his political careerCredit: Lee Thomas for The Telegraph He continued: “Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, created the migration system that enabled five million migrants to come here. “The greatest failure of any British Government in the post-war period. When asked about this last year, she defended her actions. She doesn’t believe she did anything wrong.” Mr Jenrick also used revelations about what shadow cabinet ministers had allegedly discussed in private to attack his former party, saying: “At a recent shadow cabinet, a debate broke out. The question was put to the group: is Britain broken? I said it’s broken. “Almost all said it’s not broken, and we were told that’s the party line. A few had a third view. It is broken, but we can’t say so because the Conservative Party broke it. “If they won’t admit publicly to you – the people – what they broke, how can you have any faith they will fix it?” Mr Jenrick and Mr Farage waved away suggestions that he had jumped for political advantage, noting bookies had Mr Jenrick as favourite to be the next Tory leader. But critics noted his hopes of replacing Mrs Badenoch had weakened in recent months as she solidified her position with stronger Prime Minister’s Questions performances and recent polls putting the party above Labour in support. Mrs Badenoch had to handle the saga during a trip to Scotland. She did not call Mr Jenrick to sack him after evidence of the impending defection was discovered, instead having her chief whip do so. She later said: “I don’t like losing people from our party, I really don’t, and Rob was a good member of the shadow cabinet in terms of effectively dealing with the Government. “But if you look at his tweets, it was always about him, it wasn’t about us. You would rarely see the Conservatives actually mentioned in there.” The Tory leader now faces a battle to stop more defections. Mr Jenrick is the second high-profile Conservative to jump ship, following Nadhim Zahawi, the former Tory chancellor, on Monday. Speculation that other Tory MPs would quickly follow Mr Jenrick failed to materialise on Thursday, with former backers of his leadership bid staying loyal for now. One Tory shadow cabinet minister said: “Actually, I feel betrayed by him. We as Conservatives were having really positive discussions about the future – Kemi’s really got into her groove.” Mr Farage’s new May 7 deadline could provide a new incentive for any other Tories considering jumping ship. The Reform leader said: “If you’re coming to us, do it before the next local election, or we don’t want you after that.” The Reform leader – who was left waiting for close to a minute after announcing Mr Jenrick on to the stage – dismissed past swipes the pair had taken at each other. He said: “The road to great success is very often littered with failures along the way. The clever people recognise those failures, adapt and change. “And I think there’s little doubt in terms of political conviction and thought that Robert Jenrick has changed enormously in the past decade.” Meanwhile, infuriated members of Mrs Badenoch’s inner circle noted that Mr Jenrick had joined an away day for senior Tories only last month. The event had been held in an office overlooking the Tower of London. A source close to Mrs Badenoch noted pointedly: “That is where they used to execute traitors.”