15 January 2026

Kemi Badenoch sacks Robert Jenrick for “plotting”

Nigel Farage said he has “had conversations” with Jenrick but was not on the brink of recruiting him to Reform

Kemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet and thrown him out of the Conservative parliamentary party by suspending the whip.

In a hastily recorded message to camera, Badenoch announced the surprise preemptive attack on Jenrick on Thursday morning. She claimed she had been provided with “irrefutable evidence” that he had been “plotting in secret” to defect to Reform and damage the Conservative party.

For nearly a year, the cold war between Jenrick and Badenoch has been the only story in Westminster when it came to the Tories. The once mighty Conservative Party has been languishing in the polls behind Reform for months, and a number of prominent Tory figures have defected to Nigel Farage’s party.

However, Badenoch has been growing in confidence after some recent signs of recovery in the polls (though Tory opinion is divided about real the so-called “Kemi bounce” really is).

Jenrick has barely been able to contain his disdain for Badenoch, who beat him in the final round of the Tory leadership election in November 2024. He has also made headlines with viral social media posts and a number of interventions that strayed beyond his brief of shadow justice secretary.

Badenoch did not elaborate on the “irrefutable evidence” of defection. Farage said at a press conference this morning that he has “had conversations” with Jenrick but was not on the brink of recruiting him to Reform.

“Of course I’ve talked to Robert Jenrick,” the Reform leader said at the Scotland press conference. “Was I on the verge of signing a document with him? No. But have we had conversations? Yes.”

Reform has invited reporters to a press conference at their HQ at 4.30 pm today. Farage has said that the presser was not planned to unveil a Jenrick defection but after Badenoch’s announcement this morning, all eyes in Westminster will be on it.

This is quite a gamble from Badenoch. She seems to have undermined what could have been a fatal defection and has now finally rid herself of the thorn in her side that has been leadership speculation around her shadow justice secretary. But, of course, this could be the opening move in a brutal Tory civil war.

[Further reading: Inside Robert Jenrick’s New Right revolution]