Kemi Badenoch has announced she has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet over a ‘secret defection plot.’
In a video shared on Tuesday morning, the Tory leader said the shadow justice secretary had had the whip removed and his party membership was suspended “with immediate effect.”
Badenoch said the action was taken after she was “presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his Shadow Cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party.”
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She added: “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.”
It has not been confirmed by the Conservatives who Jenrick was planning to defect to, but for months there have been rumours that he could move to Reform.
A senior Tory MP close to Badenoch said Jenrick had a “full speech and media plan” ready, the BBC reports.
Reform leader Nigel Farage has been asked about Jenrick’s sacking. He said he was “very surprised” the news was breaking now.
When asked if he had spoken to Jenrick about joining Reform, Farage said: “I never reveal private conversations to anybody.”
“I’m going to say I’ve had conversations with a number of very senior Conservatives over the course of the past week, over the course of the past month,” he added.
In 2024, Jenrick stood against Badenoch in the Tory leadership election, which he lost after securing 43.5% of the vote.