The sight of Robert Jenrick shaking hands with Nigel Farage after trashing the reputation of the Conservative Party – of which he had been a member since he was a teenager – would have been unthinkable to many before Thursday.
The pair have been embroiled in a war of words for years, exchanging insults as they vie for the position as the true leader of the rightwing of British politics.
But now, after an explosive day in Westminster that saw the former minister defect to Reform UK hours after he was sacked as shadow justice secretary and suspended from the Tories, Mr Farage and Mr Jenrick have agreed to put past bad blood behind them.
While it has now been revealed that the Newark MP had been courting Reform since September, having dinner with Mr Farage last month, their relationship has been far from smooth. Just last year, they traded insults on social media, with Mr Farage referring to him as a “fraud” while Mr Jenrick had previously said he wished to send the Clacton MP “back to retirement”.
What has Robert Jenrick said about Nigel Farage and Reform?
During a UCL Conservative Society dinner last March, Mr Jenrick ruffled feathers after he appeared to suggest he was determined to “bring this coalition together” when discussing the threat posed by Reform. Soon afterwards, Ms Badenoch dismissed any prospect of a pact with Mr Farage’s party and brushed off talk of “stitch-ups before an election”.
Soon afterwards, Mr Jenrick struck a different tone during an appearance on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, stating: “Well look, Kemi Badenoch and I are on exactly the same page. Kemi has been very clear there won’t be a pact with Reform, and I’ve said time and again that I want to put Reform out of business. I want to send Nigel Farage back to retirement.”
The two-child benefits cap was introduced to restore fairness.
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) May 27, 2025
Now Labour and Reform are locked in a bidding war to splash out more in handouts.
Why is Farage backing this policy?
Has he cooked this up after one too many pints at his local?
Has a joint found its way into…
In May, Mr Jenrick took aim at Reform backing the lifting of the two-child benefit cap, writing on X: “Why is Farage backing this policy?
“Has he cooked this up after one too many pints at his local? Has a joint found its way into his usual pack of Marlboro Golds?”
As recently as last August, Jenrick accused Reform’s head of policy, Zia Yusuf, of “pushing another two lies” about his position on migrant hotels and an illegal immigration holding centre in Kent.
Mr Jenrick wrote on X: “I see Reform’s former chairman, Zia Yusuf, has unfortunately pushed another two lies about me. One of which he’s already had to delete.”
On the Manston arrivals and processing centre, he said: “The idea I was ‘bragging’ about opening hotels, or that I thought they were a good thing, is clearly absurd. A complete lie.”
In another jab, Mr Jenrick took aim at the Reform UK leader’s appearance at the Cheltenham races, stating that he had “swanned off” to forget his troubles, while the Tories remained committed to stopping the “two-tier sentencing rules”.
What has Farage said about Jenrick?
In recent years, Mr Farage’s approach to Mr Jenrick could be described as lukewarm at best. He thanked him once for co-signing his ECHR withdrawal bill, which was voted down in the Commons last October, and had previously said he was “more than happy” to discuss a potential defection.
Jenrick is a fraud. I’ve alway thought so, this quote proves it. pic.twitter.com/pMcuhe88mw
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 18, 2025
However, he also wrote on X last August: “Jenrick is a fraud. I’ve alway thought so, this quote proves it.” He also shared a picture of the MP with his quote from November 2022 when he was immigration minister, which read: “More hotels have been coming online almost every month throughout the whole year. What I have done is procure even more.”
In a separate post, Mr Farage said: “When Robert Jenrick was immigration minister he grew the number of illegal migrants living in free hotels to 56,000. He is no friend of Epping.”
In another scathing takedown while Mr Jenrick was running for Tory leader, he said: “Formerly a man that believed in nothing, Robert Jenrick now pitches himself as the great hardliner. This is almost certainly done for political gain and not out of conviction. He will divide the party. I doubt that Jenrick will last long if he wins.”
Yet with news that Mr Jenrick has joined Reform UK, a reset on their relationship is looking likely, with Mr Farage telling reporters on Thursday afternoon: “I think Rob coming will bring a lot more people and voters to us. I think this is actually a very big moment, and that’s why we talked about it for a long time.”
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