"Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch's decision to sack her shadow justice minister, Robert Jenrick, due to his impending defection was not so much about damage control as the first shot of civil war on the right. With Mr Jenrick shifting publicly to Nigel Farage's Reform UK, the issue became less about party discipline and more about the Conservatives' political viability."
"Mr Jenrick says he left because Britain is broken and the Tories refused to acknowledge their role in breaking it. His claim rests on a self-serving distinction: that the damage was done by a party he served, but not by him. Despite her improving polls, Mrs Badenoch is still recovering from the devastating 2024 election loss. With ambitious colleagues coveting her job, she could not afford to tolerate dissent. By acting she exposed a deeper fragility in UK rightwing politics."
Kemi Badenoch dismissed Robert Jenrick after his public move toward Nigel Farage's Reform UK, framing the action as necessary to protect Conservative viability. Jenrick justified his switch by saying Britain is broken and accusing the Tories of refusing to admit their part in that decline, while distancing himself from collective blame. Badenoch’s improving polls mask vulnerability from the 2024 defeat and internal ambition, prompting a zero-tolerance response to dissent. Jenrick’s defection signals that Reform can attract grassroots support and sitting figures, threatening Tory cohesion and creating competing claims to authenticity that could fragment the opposition.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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