Robert Jenrick sacked from shadow cabinet by Kemi Badenoch over ‘secret plot to leave Tories’: Latest reaction and updates

Is this the moment Nigel Farage learned of Robert Jenrick’s sacking

Nigel Farage said he will call Robert Jenrick later this afternoon after Kemi Badenoch sacked him and suspended his Tory membership.

‘I’ll give him a ring this afternoon,’ the Reform UK leader told reporters at a press conference in Edinburgh, later adding, ‘I might even buy him a pint.’

Mr Farage also stressed he did not plan to unveil Mr Jenrick as the latest defection to Reform UK at a planned press conference in London today.

Asked whether he had planned to unveil the former Tory frontbencher as the latest member of his party, he said: ‘I suspect she’s added up two and two and made five.’

Reacting to Kemi Badenoch’s announcement she has sacked Robert Jenrick from her front bench, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said:

I’m very surprised that this news is broken.

Asked if he had been speaking to Mr Jenrick, the Reform leader said that while he never reveals his private conservations, he has held talks with senior Conservatives over the course of the last week and month.

Pressed again about whether he had spoken to the now ex-shadow justice secretary, Mr Farage said:

Of course I’ve talked to Robert Jenrick. Was I on the verge of signing a document with him? No. But have we had conversations? Yes.

Mr Farage was asked again if Mr Jenrick had been considering leaving the Tories for Reform, and said he thinks ‘virtually every Conservative’ is considering leaving the party.

Here’s the moment Kemi Badenoch stunned Westminster by announcing she had sacked Mr Jenrick from her frontbench.

Dropping the bombshell, Mrs Badenoch said:

I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect.

I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his Shadow Cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party.

The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I. They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in THIS government. I will not repeat those mistakes.

Kemi Badenoch made a dramatic move to tighten her control of the Tories today by sacking former rival Robert Jenrick for plotting to defect.

In a crucial moment at Westminster that could reshape politics, Mrs Badenoch announced that she had seen ‘irrefutable evidence’ that the shadow justice secretary was intending to betray her.

He is alleged to have left the text a near-completed resignation speech and a ‘media plan’ lying around where it could be discovered – although when challenged by the Tory chief whip Rebecca Harris this morning he apparently protested his innocence.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage following a huge story in Westminster as Kemi Badenoch sacks Robert Jenrick from her shadow cabinet.

Announcing her decision on social media, Ms Badenoch said she had been presented with ‘clear, irrefutable evidence’ that Mr Jenrick was ‘plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible’ to the Conservative Party.

Mr Jenrick has yet to respond but Reform leader Nigel Farage said he had held conversations with the shadow justice secretary and may call him this afternoon.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest updates and reaction on this story.