Robert Jenrick joins Reform just hours after being ousted from the Conservatives

Robert Jenrick has joined Reform and accused the Tories of lacking the “stomach for the radical change this country needs."

He was announced as a Reform MP just hours after being sacked from Kemi Badenoch’s frontbench.

In a scathing attack on the party he said had “failed so badly”, Mr Jenrick said the Conservatives “are not sorry” about mistakes made in government.

Conservative leader Mrs Badenoch sacked him earlier on Thursday citing “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting” to jump ship in a “damaging” way.

Nigel Farage unveils Jenrick to the press

Appearing at a Westminster press conference alongside Reform leader Nigel Farage, Mr Jenrick said: “I can’t kid myself any more.

“The party hasn’t changed and it won’t.

“The bulk of the party don’t get it. Don’t have the stomach for the radical change this country needs.”

The Tories “are not sorry” about mistakes they made in government, Mr Jenrick claimed, pointing to rising migration, the backlog in the courts, “overflowing” prisons and the small size of the army.

Mr Farage described the ex-senior Tory’s defection as a “big day in the realignment of the genuine centre-right of this country”.

He told reporters: “I think Rob coming will bring a lot more people and voters to us. I think this is actually a very big moment, and that’s why we talked about it for a long time.”

Mr Jenrick “will be joining our front line team”, the Reform UK leader said.

Mr Farage joked he would “buy Kemi lunch next week and say thank you”, adding: “You’ve handed me on a plate the man that is by far the most popular figure, 60% approval rating on ConHome…

Jenrick sacked after 'plotting to defect'

Conservative leader Mrs Badenoch earlier said she had sacked Mr Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership.

She said: “I was presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his shadow cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party.”

Moments before the start of the Reform press conference, the Conservatives released “extracts” of a speech they said was the evidence of the ex-shadow justice secretary’s planned defection.

A Tory source said Mr Jenrick was late on the platform at his defection press conference because he was rewriting his speech to take out the parts they had released to the media.

Mrs Badenoch has announced that West Sussex Tory MP Nick Timothy, a former Home Office adviser to Theresa May, is taking on the Newark MP’s former shadow cabinet role.

Sir Keir Starmer earlier questioned why it took “so long” for Mrs Badenoch to sack Mr Jenrick, whom the Prime Minister accused of making “toxic comments to try and divide our country”.

Hear the latest news on Clyde 1 on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.