Any assessment of the long-term impact of Robert Jenrick’s defection on the Conservative party must start with what you think he represents – not merely the what of his views, and his popularity with the party grassroots, but the why of them.
Is he merely a talented opportunist, a snake in the Tory Eden who was leading it astray? Or was he trying to answer the challenge of the moment, which many of his former colleagues simply preferred to ignore?
