Jenrick defects: is Reform tearing the Tories apart?

詹瑞克叛逃:改革是否正在撕裂保守党?

The Story

2026-01-16

29 分钟
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After a whirlwind day in Westminster, Robert Jenrick announced that he was defecting to Reform UK after being sacked by the Conservatives. But how much trouble does his defection spell for the Tories? Can he work with Nigel Farage? And what does this mean for the future of the British right? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestory Guest: Aubrey Allegretti, chief political correspondent, The Times. Host: Manveen Rana. Producers: Sophie McNulty, Harry Stott. Read more: Ambush of Robert Jenrick opens new front in war with Reform Further listening: Will mounting scandals sink reform? Clips: Kemi Badenoch / X, BBC, Reform UK / Youtube. Photo: Getty Images. Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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  • From The Times and The Sunday Times, this is the story.

  • I'm Manvin Rana.

  • It was a day of high drama in Westminster.

  • It began with a bombshell video clip from Kemi Badenok.

  • This morning,

  • I removed the conservative whip from Robert Jenreck after dismissing him from the shadow cabinet.

  • It's not often that the leader of the opposition sacks one of the most senior members of the Shadow Cabinet in such a public way,

  • but she claimed that Robert Jenrick had been caught out in a dastardly plot to defect.

  • I was very sorry to be presented with clear,

  • irrefutable evidence, not just that he was preparing to defect,

  • but he was planning to do so in the most damaging way possible to the Conservative Party and his Shadow Cabinet colleagues.

  • Kemi Badenok said she was sick of the political psychodrama, but one of her former colleagues,

  • who's already defected to reform, Nadine Dorries, accused her of adding to the soap opera.

  • I think she's behaved a little bit like a wife who finds out that her husband's having an affair and throws his clothes out the bedroom window.

  • But by sacking him before he had a chance to defect,

  • Kemi Badenok had not only taken out her closest rival for the leadership of the Tories,

  • but she also left reform on the back foot, having to hurriedly arrange a big announcement.

  • The Conservative leadership have jumped the gun on this.

  • They've hoofed him out of the party,

  • and I've had to think very quickly as to how I should respond to this.