AT lunchtime Kemi Badenoch appeared to have totally outfoxed Robert Jenrick with a pre-emptive strike that blew his best laid plans out of the water.
The Tory leader not only showcased impressive ruthlessness, but successfully painted his treachery as the sour grapes of a beaten rival.
It has galvanised her MPs and party members in a way that solidifies her position at least in the short term.
She won today’s battle, but the war has only just begun.
Jenrick’s sensational drive-by on the Tories would have struck a chord with many voters because much of it was inarguable.
His home truths about the baggage still carried by the Conservatives – immigration, debt, welfare, have been relayed to me in private by countless Tory MPs.
The real question now is whether Mr Jenrick’s defection is the moment the dam bursts, and whether the steady stream of Tory turncoats becomes a flood.
Nigel Farage has already teased more recruits in the coming weeks and given any switchers an ultimatum of May before the door slams shut.
But today showed us Badenoch has the bit between her teeth. This “fight for the right” is just getting started.
This comes as the axed Shadow Justice Secretary launched excoriating attacks on his former Tory colleagues as he joined his new boss today.
Ms Badenoch this morning accused her former leadership rival of plotting to quit “in a way designed to be as damaging as possible”.
Forcing Mr Jenrick to make his move, he now becomes Reform’s sixth MP after becoming the latest high-profile Conservative to switch sides.
At a dynamite press conference, the ex-Tory Cabinet Minister said: “I can’t – in good conscience – stick with a party that’s failed so badly. That isn’t sorry and hasn’t changed.
“That I know in my heart won’t – can’t – deliver what’s needed. That’s why I resolved to leave.
“Because Nigel Farage has stood – consistently, and often alone – for what’s needed.”
The Reform leader himself said he was speaking to other Tory MPs, and would even be a announcing a Labour defection next week.
But he warned that the “door will be closed” after the local elections on May 7 when Reform is expected to make serious gains.
Ms Badenoch had caught Mr Jenrick when they found extracts of his resignation speech “lying around”.
They also point to a dinner Mr Jenrick had with Mr Farage last month, as well as people close to him making overtures to Reform.
Just seconds before he announced his decision at a press conference, the Tories released the evidence proving he was planning to defect.
Tory chief whip Rebecca Harris rang Mr Jenrick this morning to inform him of his sacking.
Mr Jenrick is said to have protested his innocence before putting the phone down.
Tory MP Nick Timothy has been promoted to shadow justice secretary.
Ms Badenoch’s intervention follows months of swirling rumours that Mr Jenrick was preparing to defect to Reform UK.
