This Is The End
Robert Jenrick's suspension confirms the Tories are done.
What a huge moment.
Robert Jenrick’s suspension from the Conservative Party signals a dying party in complete meltdown.
Of course the Tories had the chance to make Jenrick Party Leader.
He at least had consistently advocated ditching the ECHR, something the rest of the Tories now pretend they want to do after being overtaken by Reform in the polls.
But they chose not to make him Leader and opted for Kemi Badenoch instead.
She has overseen an appalling set of local election results for the Conservatives, with the party on course to lose two-thirds of their Scottish Parliament seats in May. In Wales, they are now polling just 10%.
So it feels like the end for them as Kemi Badenoch says this today:
“I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect.
“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.
“The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I. They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in THIS government.
“I will not repeat those mistakes.”
The ‘broad church’ Tory offering has long been tired, ineffective and represented failure.
A party that doesn’t agree on much, gets nothing done and spends most of their time arguing internally doesn’t deserve to govern this country ever again.
Could we now see Jenrick join Reform UK and play a significant part in a Reform Government that actually has ideological consistency?
And could this lead to a significant number of Tory MPs now defecting?
26 Conservative MPs backed Jenrick for the leadership in the first round of the Tory leadership race.
Whatever happens next, what emerges from this is clear.
As a recent mega poll underlines, both the Tories and Labour remain in decline and are set to lose a large number of seats at the General Election.
We remain on course for a Reform majority in Parliament and a Nigel Farage Government.