Robert Jenrick has issued a direct plea to ex-Home Secretary Suella Braverman as the clock ticks down on Reform UK’s defection invitation to Tory MPs.
Speaking to GB News following his own dramatic defection, Mr Jenrick told Patrick Christys he would “love” to see Mrs Braverman play a “more prominent role in British politics”.
Asked by Patrick if Mrs Braverman should join Reform UK, Mr Jenrick said: “I don’t know what she intends to do, so I don’t want to put words into her mouth.
“But I have the highest respect for Suella. She was right on the big issues, and I’d love to see her play a more prominent role in British politics.”
Admitting he should have publicly criticised his former party “sooner”, he said: “I don’t think anyone says I haven’t been vocal in the last two or three years. Most of the time people were saying, ‘are you too frank, or you’re being too public in your criticisms of the last Conservative Government?’
“Sure, perhaps I should have said some of these things even sooner. But when you’re in Government, you’re bound by collective responsibility. You’re trying to do a good job in the role that you have.”
He added: “But certainly, when I was Housing Secretary, I fought to get more homes built, was immensely frustrated that the last Conservative Government backed down on that, which has hurt young people and all those people who depend on those jobs, like brickies and plumbers and builders across the country.
“In particular, at the Home Office with Suella Braverman, I fought a one-year battle, really, to get the small boats down. We had some success, got them down by a third. No one’s done that before or since, and we did secure the big changes to legal migration that are now starting to have effect.”
Robert Jenrick has backed former Tory colleague Suella Braverman to defect to Reform UK
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GB NEWS
Pressed on the migrant hotel system and whether he was a key “architect” in their operation, Mr Jenrick disagreed: “Not correct. I did support the idea that we bring the very small number of brave interpreters who supported our troops in Afghanistan to safety in the UK. And I met a couple in my own constituency, but I certainly did not support the idea that that has to turn into tens of thousands of people.
“Both Suella and I rigorously opposed that in the Home Office, to the point where we refused entry to any of those people until ultimately both of us left office, and then it all started to spiral afterwards, on the hotels.”
He made clear: “Look, I hated the hotels as much as anybody else, and I worked night and day to the point where we could actually start closing them. In the end, I set in train the closure of the first 100 of the hotels.
“But why did the hotels exist? Because the numbers were out of control – it doesn’t matter, they could be on military bases, they could be in hotels, they could be in HMOs, they could be on the streets. That’s not the point. The point is, how do you stop them coming in the first place?”
Rael Braverman, Suella Braverman and Nigel Farage | RAEL BRAVERMAN
Mr Jenrick’s defection to Reform UK last week made him Nigel Farage’s sixth MP in the House of Commons.
Romford MP Andrew Rosindell defected from the Tories a few days later, taking Reform’s haul to seven.
The defection deluge prompted Kemi Badenoch to hold an emergency meeting of the 1922 Committee on Wednesday.
She told Tory MPs: “Where Reform is negative about our country, we will be fuelled by positivity.”
Mr Jenrick told GB News that the Conservatives ‘failed on immigration’
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GB NEWS
However, Mr Farage remains confident that Reform UK will welcome more Tory MPs before his May 7 deadline.
“Andrew Rosindell will not be the last MP to put country before party before the deadline on May 7,” Mr Farage said.
The Reform UK leader has also hinted that his party is expecting to welcome a Labour defector ahead of the 2026 Local Elections.
A large chunk of the defectors have come from the Tory Party so far, with more than 20 former Conservative MPs crossing over to Reform UK.