It’s been a long road for Jenrick, from Remain supporter to possible Reform defectorPublished at 12:16 GMT
henry zeffman
chief political correspondent
image source, Getty ImagesIn September 2019, then-area secretary Jenrick
It’s worth just thinking plausibly about the extent of Robert Jenrick’s political journey to achieve asylum in Reform Britain.
He was first elected in a 2014 by-election, where his main rival was Nigel Farage’s then party Ukip.
As a member of the House of Commons, he became a member of the mainstream Conservative Party, voting to remain in the EU referendum and supporting Michael Gove and then Theresa May in the subsequent leadership elections.
He became junior finance minister towards the end of his tenure as prime minister in May.
When he joined forces with Rishi Sunak and Oliver Dowden to support Boris Johnson’s 2019 leadership campaign, it was a big moment because it showed that the rising stars of the Tory mainstream were flowing into it.
Jenrick won by far the biggest job of the trio in Johnson’s first government – housing secretary – but was soon left far behind by his closest political friends.
It was striking that when Sunak became prime minister, Dowden became one of his chief of staff and eventually deputy prime minister, while Jenrick was not even a formal cabinet member as immigration minister.
Friends say the work experience changed him by giving him an up-close look at a dysfunctional immigration system. His internal critics claimed this was political opportunism by someone anticipating a leadership fight after the general election.
He ultimately resigned from the Sunak government because he believed his policies against illegal immigration did not go far enough. And he moved to the right on other issues as well.
What threw the Conservatives into turmoil this afternoon was Kemi Badenoch’s belief that Mr Jenrick was about to make the ultimate leap to the right.