Tory leader takes major swipe at her former leadership rival after his defection.
Kemi Badenoch launched a brutal attack on Robert Jenrick after his defection to Reform UK. The Conservative leader said the former shadow justice secretary “tells a lot of lies” and that you “can’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth”.
On a dramatic day in Westminster yesterday, Mrs Badenoch sacked her former leadership rival from the Tory frontbench and booted him out of the party as she accused him of “plotting in secret” to join Nigel Farage‘s insurgent party. Speaking on GB News today, Mrs Badenoch took swipes at both the Reform leader and the Newark MP.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch (Image: GB NEWS)
She said: “I’m just glad that Nigel Farage is doing my spring cleaning for me. He’s taking away my problems.
“The Conservative Party is… even more united and stronger, because we’ve lost someone who was not a team player.”
She added that Mr Jenrick “tells a lot of lies” and that you “can’t believe a word that comes out of his mouth”.
In a separate interview, Mrs Badenoch said Mr Jenrick is now “Nigel Farage’s problem”.
She said: “He and his acolytes are people who create instability wherever they go, and they can go do that in Reform.”
Robert Jenrick defected to Reform UK yesterday (Image: Getty)
And she once again ruled out a potential pact with Reform in the wake of Mr Jenrick’s defection.
Asked if she could commit to the Conservatives going into the next election alone, she said: “Yes. How do you do a deal with liars?
Mr Jenrick is the latest in a series of high-profile Tories to switch allegiance to Reform, following former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and sitting MP Danny Kruger.
His move follows months of speculation about his ambitions after he lost the Tory leadership race to Mrs Badenoch.
