The shadow justice secretary instructed an occasion with college students final month he would attempt “one way or another” to ensure Reform UK and the Tories don’t compete at one other common election and hand a second time period in workplace to Keir Starmer within the course of.
Within the unique audio, Mr Jenrick may be heard telling the scholars he’s nonetheless working exhausting to place Reform UK out of enterprise – the place of the Tory chief Kemi Badenoch.
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Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick. Pic: PA
Nevertheless, extra controversially, the feedback additionally recommend he can envisage a time when that place might now not be viable and has to alter. He denies any suggestion this implies he’s advocating a Tory-Reform UK pact.
The shadow justice secretary got here second to Mrs Badenoch within the final management contest and is the bookies’ favorite to exchange her as the following Conservative chief.
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Robert Jenrick misplaced the Tory management contest to Kemi Badenoch. Pic: PA
Chatting with the UCL Conservative affiliation dinner in late March, he may be heard saying: “[Reform UK] continues to do well in the polls. And my worry is that they become a kind of permanent or semi-permanent fixture on the British political scene. And if that is the case, and I say, I am trying to do everything I can to stop that being the case, then life becomes a lot harder for us, because the right is not united.
“And then you definately head in the direction of the overall election, the place the nightmare state of affairs is that Keir Starmer sails in via the center on account of the 2 events being disunited. I do not find out about you, however I am not ready for that to occur.
“I want the fight to be united. And so, one way or another, I’m determined to do that and to bring this coalition together and make sure we unite as a nation as well.”
That is the furthest a member of the shadow cupboard has gone in suggesting that they suppose the strategy to Reform UK might evolve earlier than the following common election.
Final evening, Mr Jenrick denied this meant he was advocating a pact with Reform UK.
A supply near Mr Jenrick mentioned: “Rob’s comments are about voters and not parties. He’s clear we have to put Reform out of business and make the Conservatives the natural home for all those on the right, rebuilding the coalition of voters we had in 2019 and can have again. But he’s under no illusions how difficult that is – we have to prove over time we’ve changed and can be trusted again.”
Mrs Badenoch has mentioned in interviews that she can not see any circumstances that the Tories underneath her management would do a take care of Reform UK.
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Reform UK chief Nigel Farage. Pic: PA
In subsequent week’s native elections, Reform UK will compete immediately towards the Tories in a collection of contests from Kent to Lincolnshire. Eventually yr’s common election, in additional than 170 of the 251 constituencies misplaced by the Conservatives the Reform vote was better than the margin of the Tories’ defeat.
As we speak’s YouGov/Sky voting intention figures put Reform UK in entrance on 25%, Labour on 23% and the Conservatives on 20%, with the Lib Dems on 16% and Greens on 10%.
