In a stunning political reversal, former Conservative frontbencher Robert Jenrick has joined Reform UK after a leaked recording emerged of him deriding its leader, Nigel Farage, as incapable of running a "five-a-side" football team.
From Scathing Critique to Defection
The dramatic events unfolded on Thursday, 16 January 2026, when Robert Jenrick was sacked from the Conservative shadow cabinet by leader Kemi Badenoch. She cited "clear, irrefutable evidence" that he was secretly plotting to defect to Reform UK in a damaging manner.
Hours later, Mr Jenrick appeared at a Westminster press conference alongside Nigel Farage to announce his move. He declared that the country needed Mr Farage and urged patriotic voters to rally behind him, stating it "does not take me one blink of the eyelid" to say he wanted Farage as Prime Minister.
This public embrace starkly contradicted private comments he made less than a year earlier.
The Damning Leaked Audio
In audio obtained by The Telegraph from a Conservative Association dinner in March 2025, Jenrick is heard dismissing Reform as "not a serious party" and launching a personal attack on its leader.
"We've just seen in the last fortnight that Nigel Farage can't even run a five-a-side team, so he's not going to be able to run a country," Jenrick said in the recording. He argued that while some sympathised with Reform's message, the party was "not the answer" and that only the Conservatives could "rescue this country."
A Mole and a Pre-emptive Strike
The defection plot was reportedly uncovered by a mole within Jenrick's own team, who passed a draft of his resignation speech and media plan to Conservative high command. This prompted Ms Badenoch's pre-emptive move to sack him.
In response, Mr Farage suggested Ms Badenoch had "jumped the gun," claiming Jenrick "might not have joined at all" had she not acted first. Jenrick now joins Reform's "frontline team" alongside five other MPs, including Danny Kruger, who was the first Tory MP to defect in September 2025.
The episode highlights the deep fractures within the right of British politics and raises serious questions about loyalty and political strategy in the run-up to the next general election.
