“`html
Robert Jenrick, amidst persistent rumors of a potential departure from the Conservative Party to join Reform UK, affirmed just last month that he was “not going anywhere.”
However, the former minister has now been revealed as Nigel Farage’s latest acquisition, mere hours after Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed him from her shadow cabinet for allegedly plotting to defect.
The former shadow justice secretary has disclosed that he approached the Reform leader four months prior, having reached the “painful conclusion” that the party he joined at age 16 was incapable of addressing Britain’s challenges.
Farage maintains that the defection was not entirely finalized and that Badenoch had “jumped the gun” by preemptively removing him.
These recent developments mark the culmination of months of speculation surrounding the 44-year-old’s future, as the Tories continue to trail Farage’s party in opinion polls under Badenoch’s leadership.
Jenrick’s defeat to Badenoch in the 2024 Conservative leadership contest was reportedly a setback he did not accept easily, according to former Tory colleagues.
He has maintained a campaign-like posture ever since, fulfilling his role as shadow justice secretary while frequently extending his commentary beyond that specific remit in interviews and public addresses.
He adopted an increasingly right-wing stance on immigration, seemingly aiming to surpass Reform and garner attention on social media.
This transformation marks a significant shift for the Remain-supporting Newark MP, previously referred to as “Robert Generic” by Tory critics due to his perceived centrist political views.
During his leadership candidacy, he advocated for the party to support withdrawing from Europe’s primary human rights treaty to address illegal migration, a position initially rejected by Badenoch, but which she has since adopted.
As Badenoch’s shadow justice secretary, he launched broadsides against “activist” judges and became increasingly critical of court rulings pertaining to immigration cases.
He also established a notable online presence, attracting attention through prominent videos in which he confronted fare evaders on the London Underground and documented illegally dumped waste in Labour-controlled Birmingham.
Furthermore, he gained media attention after describing the Handsworth district as “one of the worst-integrated places” he had ever visited.
Born in Wolverhampton in 1982, Jenrick spent his childhood in Shropshire and Herefordshire, attending a private school. His father was a gas fitter, and his mother worked as a secretary.
He graduated with a first-class degree in history from Cambridge University and contributed to a student newspaper.
After a period as a corporate lawyer in London and Moscow, he transitioned to the business sector, assuming the role of international managing director at the auction house Christie’s.
However, politics beckoned. In the 2010 general election, he unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate for Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire.
He entered Parliament in 2014, winning a by-election in Newark, triggered by a cash-for-questions controversy. He overcame a challenge from Nigel Farage’s UK Independence Party, which was then enjoying considerable support in opinion polls.
He has continuously represented the Nottinghamshire seat since then, embracing a Midlands identity with a self-proclaimed “unashamedly provincial” political perspective.
“I think normal people like in Newark have been very badly served by the political class the whole of my adult life,” he recently told the Financial Times.
He is married to Michal Berkner, an Israeli-born and US-educated corporate lawyer. They have three daughters whom they are raising as Jewish.
At the 2024 Conservative conference, Jenrick revealed that he had given one of his daughters the middle name Thatcher, in tribute to the late former Prime Minister.
He has consistently supported Israel’s conflict against Hamas and Hezbollah, and has advocated for the UK to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
In 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Jenrick family hosted a Ukrainian refugee family, becoming the first MP’s family to do so.
More recently, Jenrick acknowledged using the weight-loss medication Ozempic for approximately six weeks, stating that he “didn’t particularly enjoy it” and subsequently lost weight “in the normal way” through healthier eating and increased exercise.
“To be honest, I was overweight,” he told the Politico website, adding that he had lost four stone over 12 months.
Among his initial roles in Westminster, Jenrick served as a parliamentary aide to several cabinet ministers, including Michael Gove, Liz Truss, and Amber Rudd, prior to serving as a junior Treasury minister under Chancellor Philip Hammond for 18 months.
Similar to Truss – another prominent figure on the Tory right – he voted to remain in the European Union in 2016. However, he has subsequently characterized Brexit as the last government’s most significant accomplishment.
In 2019, while serving as housing, communities, and local government secretary, he faced controversy regarding a contentious planning decision.
He was questioned about his decision to overrule the rejection of a £1 billion building project on the Isle of Dogs, East London, proposed by publisher and Conservative donor Richard Desmond – two weeks before Desmond made an additional donation.
It was revealed that the two men had been seated together during a party fundraising dinner two months earlier. Jenrick insisted that he had not acted improperly, but his decision was later overturned.
Separately, during a COVID-19 lockdown, it emerged that he had driven 150 miles from London to his residence in Herefordshire, followed by an additional 40 miles, to deliver food and medicine to his isolating parents.
Downing Street publicly defended him and continued to utilize him as one of their most effective media communicators during periods of political difficulty.
However, in September 2021, he was dismissed by Boris Johnson as part of a broader cabinet reshuffle.
He returned to government a year later as a health minister under Truss – one of the Prime Minister’s infrequent appointments of a Sunak supporter. When Sunak assumed office, he assigned Jenrick the immigration portfolio and included him in cabinet.
Many speculated that the Tory moderate had been dispatched to the Home Office to, in effect, “man mark” Suella Braverman, the considerably more hardline Home Secretary. Conflict between the two was widely anticipated.
In fact, Braverman and Jenrick were contemporaries at Cambridge University who attended each other’s weddings.
In any case, their relationship was facilitated by a noticeable shift in Jenrick’s approach during his time in the role. He acknowledges this, attributing the hardening of his views to his experiences with the immigration system within the Home Office.
Earlier, as communities secretary working closely with the Home Office on immigration and extremism matters, he reportedly became frustrated that the Home Office was viewed as the “bad cop” while his own department was considered the “good cop,” leading him to resolve to address this perception.
In December 2023, he resigned from Sunak’s cabinet, stating that the Prime Minister’s emergency Rwanda legislation did not go far enough and would be ineffective.
Since then, he has become an outspoken critic of what he perceives as his party’s failure to deliver on its commitments to reduce immigration.
Badenoch has publicly maintained a relaxed attitude toward Jenrick’s deviations from his portfolio, including his call for the Tories to adopt a less hostile stance toward Reform.
She also defended him against allegations of racism during the Handsworth controversy.
However, the video she released announcing Jenrick’s expulsion from the party conveyed that her patience had finally been exhausted.
At a conference unveiling his defection, Jenrick asserted his “respect” for Badenoch while simultaneously criticizing former colleagues Sir Mel Stride and Dame Priti Patel for their respective records in government.
The ambitious former minister – who states he has no immediate plans to call a by-election after switching affiliations – will now seek to establish a new career within Reform following over a decade as a Conservative MP.
The secret discussions, bombshell leak and sacking which led to Robert Jenrick defecting to the Reform party.
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the former shadow justice secretary says Reform UK are the only party who can fix Britain.
Robert Jenrick urges Tories to follow him to Reform, but Nick Timothy argues the party does not have serious policies.
Sam Smith, who ran Robert Jenrick’s Tory leadership bid, said he had made “a bit of a silly move”.
The former minister says the Conservatives “broke Britain”, as Nigel Farage welcomes him to his party.
“`