Jenrick is now saying he wants to “send Nigel Farage back to retirement”
Days after a leaked recording revealed Robert Jenrick wants a Tory-Reform pact, he backtracked on his comments.
In a recording obtained by Sky News, Jenrick mentioned a “nightmare scenario” of Labour winning due to Tory-Reform disunity.
He vowed to “bring this coalition together” to avoid Conservatives and Reform UK fighting each other for votes.
On Good Morning Britain this morning, the shadow justice secretary, who was defeated by Kemi Badenoch in the 2024 Conservative leadership contest, backtracked.
He denied that he wants to form a coalition with Reform UK, and instead said he wants to “send Nigel Farage back to retirement”.
Jenrick has now claimed he agrees with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on an election pact, after previously contradicting her.
He said: “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.
“What I want to do, and Kemi feels the same, is bring back those voters that we lost, many of whom we lost to Reform at the last election, and we lost them because we let those people down. I understand that they feel angry and frustrated with the Conservative Party right now. We’re changing that.”
He also said he thinks Badenoch is doing a “bloody good job” as leader and that critics “should give her a break”.
However, there is speculation that Jenrick is manoeuvring to replace Badenoch as Conservative leader, after he sent a letter to local election candidates offering his support.
In the letter, Jenrick offered to help with fundraising for Conservative associations and said he would travel to support candidates’ local election campaigns.
This week, Tory peer and pollster warned that the Tories could lose up to 525 seats in the local elections, with Badenoch herself acknowledging that 1 May will be a “very difficult” night for the party.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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