Nottinghamshire's only Conservative MP delivered a nod to Lee Anderson at the end of his speech
13:09, 07 Oct 2025
Robert Jenrick has told the Conservative Party's annual conference of the need to "take our country back" in a nod to the slogan adopted by his Nottinghamshire parliamentary colleague Lee Anderson.
The Reform UK MP for Ashfield said when announcing his defection from the Conservatives: "I want my country back".
The Conservative MP for Newark and shadow justice secretary closed his speech to his party's conference on Tuesday (October 7) by saying: "Let's take our country back."
Mr Jenrick's speech followed a morning during which Reform announced that 20 Conservative councillors across the country, including Rushcliffe borough councillor Debbie Soloman, had joined Nigel Farage's party.
Mr Jenrick did not mention Reform by name at all during his speech, but his comment clearly echoed the words of Lee Anderson.
The Ashfield MP closed his own speech to his party's conference in September by saying: "You know what [real people] want, they want their country back".
Speaking about the mood of the country, and referencing his recent weight loss, Mr Jenrick said: "We all know that feeling when you've eaten too much and you simply think, 'enough'.
"As those of you who've known me for a while will know, I used to feel that a lot more than I do today.
"But speaking to people out in the country, I think the British people are using that same word, 'enough'. Enough of being overlooked, enough of being treated like fools."
Nottinghamshire's only Conservative MP went on to discuss the aspects of Britain that must be "cherished" and fought for, including "big skies over the flat acres of Nottinghamshire."
A major YouGov poll recently predicted that the Conservatives would be completely wiped out in Nottinghamshire if an election were held tomorrow.
The 2024 general election saw the Tories reduced to just one MP, Mr Jenrick, but a recent YouGov poll predicted that even he would lose his seat to Reform.
Yet Mr Jenrick dismissed such predictions and reserved criticism in his speech for Labour and dozens of alleged "activist" judges, rather than Reform, saying to his party: "Don't let anyone tell you that opposition is pointless".
The MP highlighted work including his online videos tackling fare dodgers in London as being among the ways in which the Conservatives are still having an impact.
Speaking about the advice of the former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Heseltine, Mr Jenrick said: "As you can imagine, Michael Heseltine and I do not agree on everything, but he told me that when he was a young man in opposition back in the 1970s under Margaret Thatcher, he would wake up every morning and he'd ask his wife 'how am I going to fight, fight, fight Labour today?
"At the end of the day, he would lie in bed again and he would ask his wife 'tomorrow, how am I going to fight, fight, fight Labour?'. I don't say that to my wife in bed. But, I do think it, and that is what each and every one of us must do."
Mr Jenrick's speech came after he defended unearthed comments he made about an area of Birmingham where he complained that he did not see "another white face" for an hour and a half.
The comments were criticised by figures including the area's MP as "irresponsible" and "dangerous".