Jenrick says he hopes his defection to Reform UK will ‘unite the right’ after Badenoch says he ‘tells a lot of lies’ – as it happened

From 16 Jan 2026Jenrick says his defection will 'unite the right'Robert Jenrick is now speaking exclusively to Laura Kuenssberg at BBC News and says he hopes his defection will “unite the right”.He said:

double quotation markThis is uniting the right. My message for millions of people in the country who stuck with the Conservative party, often through gritted teeth because like me they were deeply frustrated, angry even, about what happened.

They voted again in 2024 and many of those voters have now come to Reform over the course of the last year or so – but there are still people sticking with the party.

If you want to get rid of this Labour government and have a strong reforming government to fix the country, there is frankly only one way to do that … that is to vote for Nigel and rally behind him and Reform.

He says if right-wing voters don’t vote for Reform, they could end up with Keir Starmer as prime minister or even in coalition with the Greens and Lib Dems.Key events16 Jan 2026Closing summary16 Jan 2026West Midlands police chief to retire after Maccabi Tel Aviv fans ban row16 Jan 2026Jenrick says his defection will 'unite the right'16 Jan 2026Badenoch rules out electoral pact with Farage's Reform16 Jan 2026Badenoch: Jenrick 'tells a lot of lies' and you 'can't believe a word that comes out of his mouth'16 Jan 2026Farage's claim of Labour defection should be taken 'with pinch of salt', says Reeves16 Jan 2026New shadow justice secretary apologises after Jenrick's Reform defectionShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureClosing summary