Former Conservative shadow minister Robert Jenrick has announced he is joining Reform UK, hours after he was sacked by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch for plotting to defect to Nigel Farage's party.
Jenrick was unveiled at a press conference by Farage, who thanked Badenoch for expelling her former Tory leadership rival and helping "realign the centre-right of British politics".
In a tirade against his old party and former colleagues, Jenrick said the Conservatives "broke" the country, were "rotten" and had "betrayed its voters".
Speaking minutes before he took to the stage, Badenoch said it was a "good day" for the Conservatives and Jenrick was "now Nigel Farage's problem".
Jenrick becomes the second sitting Tory MP - after Danny Kruger in September 2025 - to switch to Farage's party, which has been consistently leading in national opinion polls for months.
