Disloyalty and defection: the Tory-Reform psychodrama
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 16 January 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
First he was pushed and then he jumped: high drama at Westminster after Kemi Badenoch sacked her rival for the Tory leadership Robert Jenrick - his crime was plotting a defection to Reform UK. Hours later, Jenrick appeared at Nigel Farage's side, branding his former party "rotten".
Did Badenoch’s decisive action help the Tory recovery plan? Which party is left weaker and which stronger in the fight for the right - could this, the most significant defection so far, further fuel Farage’s claim that the Conservative Party’s days are numbered?
Deputy opinion editor Miranda Green hosts a discussion about the ‘psychodrama’ that has rocked Westminster this week with the FT’s deputy political editor Jim Pickard, columnist and writer of the ‘Inside Politics’ newsletter Stephen Bush, and FT’s chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley.
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Want more?
Betrayal, plots and a mole who derailed Jenrick’s defection to Reform
Robert Jenrick joins Reform UK after being sacked from Tory shadow cabinet
Jenrick’s sacking is both threat and opportunity for Badenoch
Lunch with the FT Robert Jenrick: ‘I’m unashamedly provincial in my attitudes’
Latest U-turn raises renewed questions over Keir Starmer’s judgment
And sign up for Stephen's morning newsletter, Inside Politics, for straight-talking insight into the stories that matter, plus puns and tongue-(mostly)-in-cheek analysis.
Political Fix was presented by Miranda Green, and produced by Julia Webster. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound engineering by Breen Turner. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I removed the Conservative whip from Robert Jenrick after dismissing him from the Shadow Cabinet. |
| 0:07.0 | I was very sorry to be presented with clear, irrefutable evidence, not just that he was preparing |
| 0:13.7 | to defect, but he was planning to do so in the most damaging way possible to the Conservative Party |
| 0:19.4 | and his Shadow cabinet colleagues. |
| 0:22.5 | I took the only decision that any responsible leader could, because the British public are |
| 0:28.3 | tired of political psychodrama. So am I. Political psychodrama. Well, it's back this week, |
| 0:37.0 | and for once nothing whatsoever to do with Donald Trump. |
| 0:41.0 | This was Kemi Badock, trying to seize the initiative for a few hours by ejecting Robert Jenrick, |
| 0:46.7 | shadow justice secretary from the Tory party. Having already lost former Cabinet Minister Nadim Zaharwey a few days earlier, |
| 0:55.0 | the leader of the opposition was determined not to be blindsided by another high-level defection. But Farage did |
| 1:01.1 | then steal her thunder, producing Genrik as his most significant recruit to reform yet. Right in |
| 1:08.2 | the middle of our podcast recording. And I just want to say thank you to |
| 1:11.9 | Kemi Badnock. This is the latest Christmas present I've ever had. |
| 1:18.9 | Kemi Badnock is not the only leader trying to remain in control, as the Prime Minister |
| 1:23.5 | makes yet more U-turns. Is Health Secretary Wes Streeting coming for Kirstama? |
| 1:30.2 | Welcome to Political Fix with me, Miranda Green. |
| 1:33.8 | Here with me in the studio to discuss this week's Westminster dramas, the FT's Deputy Political |
| 1:39.1 | Editor Jim Picard. |
| 1:40.6 | Hi, Jim. |
| 1:41.2 | Hello, Miranda. |
| 1:42.1 | Columnist and writer of the Inside Politics newsletter, Stephen Bush. Hi, Stephen. Hi, Miranda. Columnist and writer of the Inside Politics newsletter, Stephen Bush. |
| 1:45.7 | Hi, Stephen. |
... |
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