LONDON, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Kemi Badenoch, leader of Britain's Conservative Party, abruptly dismissed Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick on Thursday. Within hours, Jenrick appeared on stage alongside Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, formally joining the Eurosceptic right-wing party and becoming the third sitting Conservative MP to defect to Reform UK.
In a statement announcing the dismissal, Badenoch described Jenrick's actions as a "betrayal of trust and internal plotting." She said she had seen "clear, irrefutable evidence" that Jenrick had been planning his defection for some time and that it was intended to "cause maximum damage" to his shadow cabinet colleagues and the Conservative Party.
The Guardian commented that the significance of Jenrick's move lies not only in the loss of a senior Conservative figure, but also in how it makes Reform UK appear less like a protest movement and more like a potential governing alternative within Britain's right-wing camp.
A PROMINENT INSIDER
For the Conservatives and the broader right-wing camp, Jenrick is no marginal figure, which is why his defection has drawn widespread attention.
Now 44, Jenrick joined the Conservative Party at the age of 16 before studying at the University of Cambridge. He later pursued further studies in political science at the University of Pennsylvania, qualified as a lawyer, and worked in London and Moscow. He entered parliament in 2014 and went on to hold a series of senior government posts during the years of Conservative rule. These included serving as exchequer secretary to the treasury from 2018 to 2019, secretary of state for housing, communities and local government from 2019 to 2021, and immigration minister from 2022 to 2023.
During his time overseeing immigration, Jenrick adopted an increasingly hardline stance on illegal migration and Channel crossings. He resigned in late 2023 in protest against the government's Rwanda deportation policy.
After the Conservatives' defeat in the 2024 general election, Jenrick ran for the party leadership and was widely viewed as a serious contender before losing to Badenoch. He was subsequently appointed shadow justice secretary and shadow lord chancellor.
As a long-serving party member who had risen close to the top of the Conservative hierarchy, Jenrick's departure represents a heavy blow to a party already struggling with historically low levels of public support, analysts said.
A WIDENING RIFT
While holding a senior position at the heart of the Conservative shadow cabinet, Jenrick had been in contact with Reform UK for months, preparing to switch parties ahead of a crucial electoral cycle, according to local media reports.
Following his dismissal, Jenrick published a lengthy statement in the Telegraph calling on other Conservatives to follow his lead. He argued that "Britain has been in decline for decades, and we're now in peril," citing stagnant incomes, failing public services, deteriorating public order and sustained pressure from immigration. Political elites, he claimed, were unwilling to admit failure or take responsibility.
In his view, both the Conservatives and Labour "are committed to a set of ideas that have failed and are failing."
The Guardian noted that once defection becomes viable for a figure of Jenrick's stature, it creates a model that others within the Conservative Party may be tempted to follow, strengthening Reform UK's leverage within right-wing politics.
POLITICAL FRACTURE
At the same time, the episode highlights a deepening fracture within Britain's right wing. Bloomberg columnist Alex Wickham said Jenrick's defection has effectively killed off the possibility of a future political alliance between the Conservative Party and Reform UK, making the country's future political landscape even more unpredictable.
Under Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system, parties require broad appeal to secure a parliamentary majority, something neither Reform UK nor the Conservatives is likely to achieve alone, despite overlaps in policy positions.
For Reform UK, absorbing figures from the political establishment offers short-term momentum but also sharpens an underlying contradiction. The party presents itself as anti-establishment, yet its growing ranks increasingly include politicians deeply embedded in the old system.
Former Conservative home and foreign secretary James Cleverly has argued that Reform UK will ultimately have to decide what it wants to be: a genuinely new and radical force, or a landing ground for politicians who have lost elections and fallen out with their former party.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives, having drawn a firm line against cooperation with Reform UK, face their own reckoning. Badenoch has insisted there will be no pact with Reform UK, saying she cannot work with "liars." The Financial Times noted that maintaining this position could mean the next general election becomes the most genuinely multi-party contest Britain has seen in decades. ■