The defection of Robert Jenrick to Reform UK risks setting off a future power struggle with Nigel Farage, former allies of the party leader have warned.
The ex-Conservative minister has insisted he is now dedicated to helping Farage become prime minister after jumping ship to the right-wing populists, despite having previously clashed with his new boss.
But multiple figures who have previously worked with Farage told The i Paper that he has struggled to share power with others, and predicted a fresh bout of infighting now that Jenrick has joined Reform.
Others, however, insisted that the party’s newest MP would be a success as long as he does not publicly clash with the leader – adding that Farage is trying to get better at collaborating with his colleagues.
Jenrick acknowledged on Friday that he and Farage had previously traded insults. He told BBC News: “I’ve said stuff in politics. Nigel has said things about me… That is the rough and tumble of politics. I’ve probably been more complimentary about Nigel than, frankly, almost anyone in the Conservative party. I’ve said that I respect his longevity. I respect the fact that he’s spoken for millions. “
When Robert Jenrick was immigration minister he grew the number of illegal migrants living in free hotels to 56,000.He is no friend of Epping. pic.twitter.com/E6HMry5AOX
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 20, 2025‘Nigel is not a narcissist’
One ex-Brexit Party MEP said that Farage would be unable to get on with his new recruit – pointing to previous fights with allies such as Rupert Lowe, the Great Yarmouth MP who was thrown out of Reform last year. “He has always been his way or the highway,” the source said.
Ben Habib, the former Reform deputy leader who has fallen out with Farage and started a rival hard-right party, added: “They will all fight like rats in a sack. That is already happening.”
But another person who has worked closely with Farage in the past predicted that Jenrick would be able to get on with the leader as long as he does not publicly contradict him on policy issues.
“Nigel is not a narcissist like the left likes to portray him as,” the insider said. “Having the platform means having the control over the narrative, which is vital if you’re building a movement. You don’t have control if someone else is hogging the platform and interrupting what wants to be the priority message.
“He’s very easy to work with, and responds well to calm and considered advice – and I think he knows he will need to start working with talented people. Robert understands party discipline and is not a rabble-rouser.”
A source who has advised Reform said that most of the party’s backers were welcoming Jenrick’s defection as “a punch against the Tories”, but warned that a “tipping point” at which the party will have taken too many ex-Conservative MP is “reasonably close”.
They admitted it was not clear whether Farage could get on with another high-profile figure sharing his party, but added: “Everything I have heard suggests that one of the things he’s trying to do this winter/spring is build a team of bigger names, which he cannot do without solving that problem.”
Speculation Jenrick wants to be Reform Chancellor
There has long been speculation that Jenrick wants to be Reform’s candidate for chancellor of the exchequer – a position also coveted by deputy leader Richard Tice and policy chief Zia Yusuf.
A party insider said: “If Nigel was going to make Rob his shadow chancellor he would need to find time for discussion with Tice and Zia.
“Richard is a team player but he is also a human being, it wouldn’t be an easy discussion… I think Nigel need to address that. They don’t even have team meetings, weekly team meeting. It’s just that Nigel is so much in charge.”
A source close to Farage insisted Jenrick would be a major asset to Reform, saying: “Having a weapons-grade communicator to add to Nigel, Richard and Zia will be very useful for the morning media round.
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“In 2024, our biggest fear of a Tory party led by Robert was his boundless energy. We will now be using that to our advantage.”
At the press conference unveiling the defection, Farage said he was relaxed about colleagues disagreeing with him as long as they did so in private.
He told reporters: “Anybody can come and say anything they want to me. The only rule I have as leader is that we have our disagreements, we have our arguments, we have our rows behind closed doors. We don’t have fights in public, and people in politics who have fights with me in public generally don’t tend to do terribly well.”
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