Tories hope chaotic defection has closed their ranks behind leader with one less problem

While it is never ideal in politics to have a senior colleague defect, nor hurling insults as they depart, as the dust settles on Robert Jenrick’s move to Reform UK, many of the remaining Conservative MPs agree on one thing: it has left Kemi Badenoch stronger.

- Peter Walker

"Historically, the party has suffered from two weaknesses: too many people trying to bring down the leader, and not enough leaders getting rid of those people,” one shadow minister said. “Hopefully now we’re all pulling in the same direction.

“Losing a senior shadow minister is not ideal. But given those basic facts, the day could hardly have gone better.”

Badenoch set the agenda by preempting Jenrick’s likely defection by sacking him as shadow justice minister and stripping him of the Tory whip, leaving the Newark MP and Reform to play catch-up with a late-afternoon press conference.

That event involved slightly farcical scenes as Jenrick initially failed to appear when Nigel Farage announced him. Tory sources say they believe this was because they had just tweeted extracts of his defection speech, obtained by Badenoch’s office, leaving Jenrick making last-minute changes.