Robert Jenrick was described as “the new sheriff in town” and the politician needed by Reform UK to give it experience and political “heft”, according to a leaked media plan for his defection prepared by his aides.
The emergence of the document, which also describes Jenrick as “the most dynamic politician in the Conservative party”, came as Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy, hailed the defection, after days of silence from one of Nigel Farage’s key aides.
Allies of Jenrick said the document, obtained by Kemi Badenoch’s office and passed to newspapers, was not written by him. However, extracts of it, reported by the Sunday Times and Mail on Sunday, appear to show he had annotated it in his own handwriting.
Jenrick, who was shadow justice secretary and came second to Badenoch in the battle to succeed Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, announced his defection to Reform on Thursday, after Badenoch learned of his plans and said he had been sacked and stripped of the party whip.
The Conservative leader learned of his plans after obtaining a copy of a speech Jenrick had prepared for his defection, with the media plan seemingly being obtained at the same time.
“You’re the new sheriff in town, here to provide experience and political heft to Reform’s operation so the country can be fixed,” read one line of apparent advice to Jenrick.
The six-page memo, which also gives ideas for responses to specific questions Jenrick might face after the defection, talked up the supposed significance of the decision by the Newark MP to move parties.
“You’re the biggest defection story Reform has ever had (and likely ever will),” it told him. “The most popular Tory shadow cabinet member, leader in waiting if Kemi ever fails, and the most dynamic politician in the Conservative party.”
While it emerged that Jenrick had been talking to Farage for some months, not all Reform members welcomed yet another former Conservative, days after the arrival of the former Tory cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi.
Yusuf was the only senior Reform figure not at Thursday afternoon’s press conference with Jenrick, and he did not tweet about Jenrick’s move, instead repeatedly noting Reform’s deadline of 7 May for any other defections.
But asked about the defection on Sunday, Yusuf told Sky News he was happy to see Jenrick arrive – while indicating he had not known about the plans in advance.
Asked if he had any role in the negotiations, Yusuf said: “I had dinner with him on Thursday night, the day he defected. My assessment is that this is a man who is thoughtful, who is clear-eyed about all of the different ways the Tories betrayed this country, and wants to help Nigel, help me, help Richard [Tice] and everyone at Reform repair that damage.
“And I also think it’s crystal clear that him arriving at Reform makes it more likely that we win the next general election.”
Reform has promised the defection of a “well known” figure from Labour, to be announced next week. Asked by the BBC whether it would be Kate Hoey, the former Labour MP who left the party more than seven years ago, Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, refused to say.
Asked by Sky News if she was the person in question, Hoey seemingly dodged the question, saying she was not well known and was no longer in Labour.
In Sunday’s newspapers, Jenrick and Badenoch continued their attacks on each other. Jenrick told the Sun on Sunday that the Conservatives had become out of touch with ordinary voters.
He said: “The divide in British politics has become Reform’s workers’ party versus the Tory posh party.”
Badenoch in turn told the Telegraph: “I know what I believe. I know what I stand for. Robert has a pastiche of what he thinks the right wing is, and then he performs towards it. It’s always been about his personal ambition.”
