What does Jenrick’s defection mean for the right? |
Robert Jenrick arrived late to his own defection. ‘It’s time for the truth’, he said, before launching into a speech that he would have no doubt preferred to deliver at a more opportune moment. In his opening remarks, which he had to pad out as Jenrick failed to arrive at the lectern, Nigel Farage implied that there was no clear evidence his new recruit had actually been pushed into jumping by the actions of an over-hasty Kemi Badenoch. He described her sacking of Jenrick as an avoidable own goal, ‘the latest Christmas present I’ve ever had.’ In reality, Jenrick could scarcely have been allowed to stay on after senior Reform UK figures had publicly admitted to being in secret discussions with him. The more important question is, what does it mean for both parties of the right?
The obvious beneficiary of so much infighting will surely be Keir Starmer, though it wouldn’t be beyond him to squander it
As Stephen Pollard wrote today, the move suggests a decisiveness on Kemi Badenoch’s part – Tories can draw a contrast between........