Jenrick had Tory baggage – but some Clacton locals think it’s a good thing ...Middle East

Nigel Farage’s scalp in recruiting Robert Jenrick has showed some voters at once unsure of Reform, that the party means business.

Jenrick, a once Tory leadership hopeful and shadow Justice Secretary, was dramatically ousted by Kemi Badenoch on Thursday after the Conservative leader announced she had uncovered “very clear evidence” that he was planning to defect to Reform.

The former immigration minister who at one point backed remaining in Europe and was part of successive Tory governments, became Farage’s most high-profile recruitment yet from the Conservatives. Jenrick followed his former colleague in government, the short-lived Chancellor, Nadhim Zahawi into the party.

Amid the political drama entering into Reform’s ranks, voters in Clacton-on-sea in Essex told The i Paper they would be even more inclined to vote for Reform at the next election following the recruitment of the former ministers in Boris Johnson’s government.

Clacton, once a thriving seaside destination for British holiday makers, which for decades has remained one of the most deprived areas of the UK according to government figures, allowed Farage to sweep into Parliament at the eighth time of trying in 2024.

Reform now holds six seats in Parliament and leads in polling for the next general election – although it has seen a drop in support in some polls over the last few weeks.

Farage and his party will also be hoping to make further gains at the local elections in May, especially now the party could be armed with inside secrets from the Tories.

More experience in Reform’s ranks?

Alexander Armitt, 63, a retiree in Clacton, said he had chosen to vote for Labour in the last general election as he viewed Farage as being “more on the extreme end of the spectrum” but that may change now the party has welcomed Zahawi and Jenrick.

“But the two of them joining would definitely make me consider voting Reform,” Mr Armitt said at the entrance to Clacton’s pier.

The retiree said he had been “let down” by Labour since Sir Keir Starmer entered No10. He added: “For want of a better way to put it, the country’s had its trousers pulled down and spanked by Labour.

“The country is crying out for change and I just want to see it happen. It needs to be change that we can actually see. It’s no good just talking about it. Maybe Reform can do that now.”

Mick Greenslade, 52, a local government worker in the seaside down, echoed his fellow resident’s views. “Before there was a lot of people coming into Reform that were maybe a little bit too far-right, but they also haven’t really got an idea of how government is run,” Mr Greenslade said.

He said it was “worrying” that Reform had picked up so many seats in both local and general elections with candidates who did not have much “experience”.

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Before this week, Reform had also welcomed former Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, MP Danny Kruger, and at least 11 other former Tory MPs into its ranks since Badenoch took over the leadership of the Conservative Party.

At the conference unveiling Jenrick’s defection on Thursday, Farage also touted that a “well known” Labour figure would also make the jump across to his party in the coming week.

“With a lot of people coming in from the Conservatives, at least they’ve got an insight into how Parliament works, how all the monetary side works,” Mr Greenslade said.

“How much a part they can play with Reform is another thing. It’s going to be interesting to see how they’re going to jell with Reform, which is a lot further right.”

Mr Greenslade said he would “definitely” be voting for Reform at the next election, and expressed his annoyance at the Government so far for “trying to please too many people” and “making a hash of it with so many U-turns”.

“Don’t get me wrong, all of them are a truck load of monkeys,” Mr Greenslade clarified, but said Reform was “more favourable” and the “lesser of the evils”.

Could new recruits help persuade others to vote Reform?

Other residents were less enthusiastic about Reform’s offering and Farage’s time as Clacton MP.

“Farage seems to be everywhere else except where he needs to be,” said a dog walker on the seafront who declined to give her name. “He’s not seen very much around Clacton unless there’s a photo-op.”

Despite voting in Farage in 2024, she said she was unlikely to vote for Reform again. Exasperated at the defections of Zahawi and Jenrick, she said the Conservatives had “done so badly” in government, citing a failure to curb immigration into the UK. Both Zahawi and Jenrick were members of Johnson’s government in January 2021 which introduced new visa rules post-Brexit and resulted in a sharp increase in migration to the UK.

“I don’t understand why Reform are willing to take them on,” she said. “They just all seem to have big egos of their own. I mean when you have too many clowns in a circus tent you just wonder if it’s ever going to perform right.”

Steve and Elaine Bounds, 79 and 71, who moved to Clacton from London two years ago and remain Reform supporters, said the new recruitment had little impact on their support for the party. They, however, acknowledged that former Tory ministers joining Reform may help persuade others to also vote for the party.

Ms Bounds said she would prefer Reform and the Conservatives to cut an electoral pact and work together to form a new Government.

‘Never ever Reform’

Despite sweeping into the Clacton seat with 46 per cent of the vote, far ahead of the Conservatives at 28 per cent, at the 2024 election, Farage still remains a controversial figure In the area.

Keith and Ruth West, 75 and 70, who live in the village of Alresford, in the next constituency west from Clacton where Tory Bernard Jenkins represents them in Westminster, said they both voted for Labour in 2024 and would in “no way ever, ever” see themselves voting for Reform.

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“They just play into people’s fears on immigration,” Ms West said, “but it’s what they don’t say, like privatising the NHS. Most people around here would be very disadvantaged [by a privatised NHS], but they’re the ones who voted for Nigel Farage.”

Mr West said Jenrick was a “coward” for jumping to Reform and was “only in it for himself”.

Ms West said she was still puzzled as to how Jenrick had voted for Remain in the 2016 Brexit Referendum. “As far as we’re concerned [Jenrick] just saw the political landscape and he shifted with it to become quite hard line, right wing on immigration.”

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