Badenoch Fires Robert Jenrick Over Alleged Plans To Secretly Defect
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the party whip and suspended his Conservative Party membership, saying she was shown proof he was secretly planning to defect.
Badenoch, who previously faced Jenrick as a rival in the Tory leadership contest, said the decision followed what she described as clear and undeniable evidence of disloyalty. She made the announcement in a blunt video message that was released at the same time that Nigel Farage was holding a high-profile Reform UK press conference in Scotland.
In a statement posted on social media, Badenoch said: “I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect.” She added: “I 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.”
Badenoch said she wanted to draw a line under internal drama, arguing that voters had little patience left for political infighting. “The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I,” she said. “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.”
Jenrick has not publicly responded to the allegations. His sacking marks a dramatic escalation of tensions inside the Conservative Party as Badenoch seeks to assert control over her frontbench team.
