Robert Jenrick’s defection to Reform UK could provide Labour with an open goal at the next General Election, a political expert has warned, after the former shadow Justice Secretary ruled out a pact with the Conservatives.Mr Jenrick became the latest Tory MP to defect to Nigel Farage’s party yesterday after being sacked from Kemi Badenoch’s front bench.The Newark MP launched a scathing attack on his former party in the process, saying it lacked the “stomach for the radical change this country needs” and ruling out a possible pact between the two parties.Speaking at a press conference alongside Mr Farage yesterday, he said: “I don’t believe there is likely to be, or should be a pact or a deal with the Conservative Party. “The message I’ve just delivered to you today is that I think the Conservative Party has failed to understand the mistakes that it made, has not repented for that. “Why would anyone in this country hand the keys back to these people to take it forward and hope that they would fix the country?”Former Conservative cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg however, said parties need “broad” appeal to win a General Election, arguing neither Reform nor the Tories have it on their own. The ex-leader of the House of Commons told Sky News: “The reality of first-past-the-post politics is that you have to have your wing of politics united if you are to win, so you have to have a party that is broad enough to attract enough of the electorate be getting 40 to 45 per cent of the vote. “Neither Reform nor the Conservative Party can manage that on their own in spite of the fact that there is a huge overlap in terms of our policy ideas, our concerns about immigration, concerns about economic policy and so on.”Without a pact to unite the political right, a Bloomberg analysis warned of a wide-open general election in 2029 (or sooner).FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…WATCH: Lee Anderson insists Reform UK is not ‘Tory 2.0’ but is ‘rehoming service for true British patriots’
New shadow justice secretary says public ‘sick of the backbiting and backstabbing in politics’ as he brands Robert Jenrick defection ‘disappointing’ Nick Timothy said his shadow cabinet predecessor Robert Jenrick was “a friend of mine” but that the public were sick of “the backbiting and the backstabbing” in politics.Asked whether he was friends with the former Tory, who defected to Reform UK on Thursday, the new shadow justice secretary told BBC Breakfast: “Yeah, Rob’s been a friend of mine for some time.“It’s obviously disappointing that he’s decided to move on, but the thing is, what we learned yesterday is the clear contrast between the Conservatives led by Kemi Badenoch and the other parties and what they offer Britain today.“The public are sick of the backbiting and the backstabbing and the lack of seriousness in our political parties when the challenges that the country faces are so serious, Kemi was given irrefutable evidence of what was about to happen, and she acted very decisively.”
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