𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The weekend papers should have been wall-to-wall coverage of  Keir Starmer’s disastrous stewardship of the UK. His never ending U-turns, now clocking up at a rate of one every six weeks; his dismantling of democracy as four million people are to be deprived of their vote at the local elections in May; and the devastation he is heaping on pubs, hotels, cafes and the high street, with a pub going to the wall each day. Instead, Slippery Starmer was let off the hook as Robert Jenrick’s bizarre defection stole the headlines.

Be in no doubt there is bitterness when a colleague defects. When someone you thought of as ‘one of us’ does the dirty and leaves you, it’s like a partner having an affair and then running off with them, it’s painful. Some defections seem more genuine, others more personal, and I’m afraid to say Robert’s felt personal.

The reality is Robert never got over losing the leadership election to Kemi Badenoch. For a while, I’m quite certain he harboured the belief he would be her immediate successor, maybe even as soon as the May 2026 local elections, as the polls initially made difficult viewing for Conservatives. He would therefore work hard, show he was leadership material and expose Labour’s failures, which he did brilliantly with energy and ingenuity.

His video exposing Sadiq Khan’s lawless London and fare dodgers was brilliant and went viral, he regularly wiped the floor with David ‘Calamity’ Lammy in the House of Commons, and nailed Labour over its plans to scrap trial by jury – which without doubt will be their next U-turn. Unfortunately for Robert, Kemi too got much stronger at the Despatch Box and more assured in the media. Her dismantling of Rachel Reeves at the Budget was a watershed moment, helping to turn the fortunes of the Conservative Party around and making her position as leader safe and unassailable.

It seems, this realisation caused Robert’s personal ambition to get the better of him and without the carrot of the leadership dangling, he began to plot his defection. Kemi got wind of it, exposed his disloyalty, and forced his hand.

The great sadness of this defection is that it has taken our eye off the ball. The political battle in this country is not between the Conservative Party and Reform – we have much in common. It’s against this lousy government and Socialism.

The country’s battle is with the left, and the threat of a rainbow coalition of the left that will help Labour remain in power. We saw this in the Caerphilly by-election in Wales, Plaid Cymru won and pushed Reform into second place as the left rallied around Plaid.

My message is forget Robert and Andrew Rosindell’s defections, they are disappointing, but they are a political side show. Our focus must be on removing Starmer and this awful socialist government and getting the news coverage back on the havoc this bunch of duds is inflicting on us all.