Treachery and stupidity to the fore as Robert Jenrick defects to Reform | John Crace

One is too many and 1,000 never enough. Addiction is a tricky business. What starts as fun inevitably, insidiously, tears away the soul. And there are signs that Nigel Farage’s press conference habit is getting out of control. He started off at one a week

Robert Jenrick: from remainer to rightwinger with ruthless reputation

For a long time, Robert Jenrick’s transformation from a David Cameron-supporting remainer to an anti-immigration rightwinger did not convince many of his political peers – least of all Nigel Farage.Only last year, the Reform UK leader was describing him as a “fraud” and saying he was sceptical that Jenrick was genuine, dubbing him “Robert the Generic, Robert the Remainer and Robert the I Don’t Stand Particularly for Anything at all”.“There are people in politics who are there through conviction and there are people in politics who are there because they want to reach rank, position and all that comes with that,” he said at the time.“I’m really still not sure about Jenrick, to be honest with you, I’m really not sure.”Now, the verdicts of some of Jenrick’s Tory colleagues on his political behaviour are similarly damning and centre on his unbridled ambitions

Tory defectors: who has already joined Reform UK and who may follow?

With Robert Jenrick’s defection, the number of current or former parliamentarians to have joined Reform from the Conservatives has risen to 18. Some of the best known are likely to be prominent voices for Nigel Farage’s party in the run-up to the next election.There are others within the Conservative party thought to have considered their position in recent months. But Farage has claimed that the value of such additions to his ranks is dropping – and said he would accept no further defectors from the Tories after the May elections, arguing that by then his party’s strength would be so clear that they would have little to add.Here are some of the most prominent figures on both sides of that divide

‘The mask has slipped’: What have Jenrick and Farage said about each other in the past?

Like other Conservative recruits to Reform UK, Robert Jenrick’s defection has come with no shortage of lacerating past comments about Nigel Farage and his other new colleagues.When Nadhim Zahawi defected to Reform on Monday, Conservative headquarters were quick to unload the former chancellor’s previous comments about Farage on to social media.In the case of Jenrick, below is just some of the ammunition they have been drawing on once again.Today I took forward a bill to stop the two-tier sentencing rules that come into force in just 18 days. While Nigel Farage swanned off to Cheltenham to forget his troubles

More than 20 England council elections likely to be delayed until 2027

More than a third of local authorities in England have asked to postpone their elections in May, saying they are unable to deliver them effectively during an overhaul of local government, according to administrators.The requested postponements have sparked unrest and fierce criticism in some councils, with police being called to a council meeting in Redditch this week after insults were traded and members of the public decried a delay as “arrogant”.Sixty-three council areas could opt to postpone elections until 2027, after some were already delayed until May 2026, as two-tier authorities are being combined into single unitary councils.According to data compiled by the Association of Electoral Administrators, 27 of the 63 eligible local authorities – more than a third – have sought a postponement to either district or county council votes this year.Others were yet to make a decision on whether to ask for a delay before the request deadline at midnight on Thursday

Multimillionaire leader of Reform in Scotland refuses to reveal net worth

The multimillionaire financier who has been made leader of Reform UK in Scotland has refused to say how wealthy he is, claiming that is a private matter.Malcolm Offord, formerly a Conservative party life peer, was announced by Reform’s leader, Nigel Farage, as the party’s first Scottish leader, 10 weeks before a Scottish parliament election in which Reform is expected to win up to 18 seats.Offord is a yachting enthusiast who wins races at Cowes, collects classic cars and recently bought a mansion on the banks of Loch Lomond for £1.6m without a mortgage. He previously endorsed suggestions the public could be charged to use the NHS