The Conservative MP for Newark says he remains 'sceptical' that Reform UK are right to run the country
04:00, 27 Dec 2025
Robert Jenrick says Nigel Farage speaks for 'millions of people in this country' and that he has been 'radicalised' since leaving government.
The Conservative MP for Newark says Britain is "broken", but remains "sceptical" that Reform UK are the answer.
Mr Jenrick is now the only Conservative MP across both Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire following the party's historic defeat at the 2024 general election.
The result triggered a Conservative leadership contest to decide who would lead the much smaller party in opposition against Keir Starmer's Labour government.
Mr Jenrick unsuccessfully stood against Kemi Badenoch and was quickly given the role of shadow justice secretary in her shadow cabinet.
Yet the Newark MP says he has been continuing to "plough his own furrow" and still believes that the Conservative Party is not election-ready.
"The Conservative Party has not changed enough yet, as is evident in continued poor polling," Mr Jenrick said.
"The party's got to be almost a new Conservative Party with different people, different attitudes and begin slowly to regain the public's trust and confidence.
"It's started that journey, but it needs to go much, much further in my view.
"My view remains that the Conservative Party has to be painfully honest about the things that it got wrong when it was in government, whether that's on immigration or taxation, and it's got to change."
Asked if Kemi Badenoch was still the right person to lead that change, Mr Jenrick said his own leadership bid is now "ancient history" and that being opposition leader is not easy after "such a severe defeat".
"Kemi has had some successes, like forcing the government to change tack on winter fuel payments and the national inquiry on grooming gangs," Mr Jenrick said.
"But I do think the party has to up its game and be much more visible, insert itself into the national conversation in a way that it hasn't done since the general election and bring forward serious answers to the big challenges that are facing the country.
"No political party has a divine right to exist, even one like the Conservative Party that's served the country for 200 years.
"If we want the party to continue and to gain ground then it has to fundamentally change and reorient itself to the issues that my constituents here in Nottinghamshire care about which are secure borders, the cost of living, crime, and a much greater sense of pride in our communities and our country than we see at present."
Much of the national chatter about Mr Jenrick since the last general election has centred primarily on three talking points - any leadership ambitions he still harbours, his viral videos on issues like fare dodging and his weight loss.
The latter rendered the MP's order of a pale ale and a bag of chorizo crisps rather surprising when Nottinghamshire Live met him in The Royal Oak pub in Car Colston.
The MP suggested the venue and was holding court with some punters when we arrived, joking that he was having a discussion with a hastily arranged focus group.
It could have all been so different, with Mr Jenrick hanging on to the Newark seat he has held since 2014 by a much tighter margin than usual at the last election.
Reform came third behind Labour and, since the election, Nigel Farage's party is now consistently topping all the national polls and has convincingly swept to power at Nottinghamshire County Council.
A tight result it may have been, but Mr Jenrick says the next election is a long way off after a recent YouGov poll predicted that even Newark would go to Reform if a vote was held now.
The Newark MP said: "I've tried in recent years, in particular, to be a very independent-minded member of parliament.
"I resigned from the last Conservative government. I was highly critical of Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party.
"I've ploughed my own furrow in many respects in recent months.
"I would hope that people recognise that with me they get someone who has strong opinions, who speaks his mind and represents them well on the national stage.
"I'm certainly, for better or ill, one of the most outspoken members of parliament and I try to use that platform to get the best possible results for my constituents."
Much of Mr Jenrick's rhetoric now sounds broadly similar to Reform, having ended his Conservative Party conference speech by borrowing Lee Anderson's slogan and talking of the need to "take our country back".
"I have a lot of respect for Nigel Farage," Mr Jenrick says.
"We know each other well and have very similar views on many issues. I think he speaks for millions of people in the country.
"I am sceptical that Reform have the answers to the challenges that the country faces right now.
"I'm also sceptical that they would be able to deliver a competent government were they to be in power in Westminster, given that they're very few in number, they have no experience of running the country and, for all those reasons, I continue to think the Conservative Party, despite its recent failings, is the best vehicle for fixing Britain right now."
Having first become a minister in Theresa May's government, Mr Jenrick's recent interventions have led some to claim that his politics have radically altered since he was first elected.
Lord Ken Clarke, the former Rushcliffe MP and Conservative Chancellor, told Nottinghamshire Live earlier this year: "Robert seems to have changed extraordinarily.
"He was a perfectly reasonable One Nation Tory when I had him as a political neighbour and got on very well with him. He seems to have suddenly converted to being a Nigel Farage imitator."
Responding to his former parliamentary neighbour, Mr Jenrick said: "My views haven't changed, they're rooted in the people that I represent here in Nottinghamshire.
"They're hardworking, patriotic people whose views have been ignored by the Westminster establishment and by many people in the main political parties for a long time.
"It's fair to say that, during my time as a minister, I came to the view that a lot of Britain is basically broken right now.
"If some people say that I've been radicalised then for sure, but I've been radicalised by the facts, by what's happening in the country right now."