Senior Conservative figures have launched a blistering attack on former minister Robert Jenrick, branding him a "snake" and a "mediocre middle manager" after he was sensationally expelled from the party for planning to defect to Reform UK.
The Expulsion and Accusations of Disloyalty
Robert Jenrick was booted out of the Conservative Party this week after party leader Kemi Badenoch discovered evidence he intended to cross the floor to Nigel Farage's Reform UK. The dramatic move has triggered a wave of vitriol from his former colleagues, who have questioned his loyalty, ability, and motives in a series of incendiary remarks to the press.
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake suggested the defection stemmed from Jenrick's bitterness at being overlooked for the Home Secretary role by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. "Ever since then, he’s been focused on what's right for Rob, rather than what's right for the party and the country," Hollinrake stated. He revealed a personal rift, noting that after he backed Badenoch in the leadership contest, Jenrick "wouldn’t speak to me for three weeks."
Reform's 'Problem' and a Blow to Political Trust
Former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland claimed the expulsion was a shrewd move by Badenoch that solidified her authority and quashed any lingering leadership challenge. He argued that Jenrick is now "Reform’s problem" and that his departure alters the dynamics of the rival party. "From what has been a one-man band, they now start to look like any other political party," Buckland observed.
Buckland, who recently compared Jenrick to Enoch Powell, also dismissed the defector's claim to be acting for the national good. "At a time when trust in politicians is low... does he really think his behaviour... is going to increase trust in politicians? Not a bit," he said. "He’s part of the problem, not the solution."
'The Mask Has Slipped': Scathing Assessments from Within
The criticism from anonymous Tory sources was even more personal and cutting. One senior figure who worked closely with Jenrick declared: "The mask has slipped and Robert Jenrick has been unveiled as a total snake once and for all." They derided his joining press conference with Reform as "toadying" and likened it to "watching the emperor parade around with no clothes."
This source also attacked his ministerial record, labelling him "at best a mediocre middle manager" who was quick to criticise Tory failures on housing and immigration without acknowledging his own responsibility as the former minister in those briefs. "We've lost someone who loves the sound of his voice more than he cares about the people of this country," the source concluded.
Another Tory insider described Jenrick's ambition as a "madness" that overrides all else, predicting he will become distracted by internal jostling for position within Reform. They branded him "the ultimate traitor" who "lies very freely, and has no notion of loyalty."
The explosive fallout highlights the deepening civil war within the right of British politics and poses immediate questions for Reform UK about integrating a high-profile but controversial defector into its ranks.
