Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said she has sacked Robert Jenrick as UK shadow justice secretary and kicked him out of the party due to “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible” to his Conservative colleagues.
She did not specify which party Mr Jenrick was planning to switch to, but Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said he has “of course” had conversations with the senior Tory.
Mr Jenrick has attracted speculation about leadership ambitions since being beaten in his bid for the party’s reins in 2024, and has repeatedly stepped out beyond the shadow cabinet line.
I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect.
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… pic.twitter.com/zoSzFp0cKq
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) January 15, 2026
Mrs Badenoch said on X: “I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect.
“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.
“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.”