SHAKEN & STIRRED

Jenrick switches to Reform, ex-Tory peer named Scots leader & polls put Tories 4th | Sarwar says Labour is only party that can boot the Nats out of office

- BY PAUL HUTCHEON

THE Tories are in "freefall" after a triple whammy of blows during Kemi Badenoch's disastrous Scotland trip.

The Conservatives leader was forced to sack high-profile colleague Robert Jenrick after finding "irrefutable evidence" that he was about to defect to Nigel Farage's Reform, which he then did later in the day.

An opinion poll showed the Tories heading for fourth at the Holyrood election.

And a former Scots Tory Lord was appointed Reform leader in Scotland.

The day of chaos came as Badenoch, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Reform leader Farage all visited Scotland.

The Tories have suffered a wave of defections to Reform over the last year, including councillors and parliamentarians.

Speculation was rife that Jenrick, who lost to Badenoch during the last leadership contest, would quit for Reform.

Badenoch fired him instead, saying: "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.