George Torr,East Midlandsand
Anna Whittaker,Nottingham political reporter
Voters in the constituency of Newark have been reacting to the news their MP Robert Jenrick has been sacked by the Conservative party.
Jenrick, who has a majority of just over 3,500 votes following his re-election in 2024, was thrown out of the party by leader Kemi Badenoch, who said there was “clear and irrefutable evidence” he was preparing to defect.
One constituent, Alec Cullen from Bingham, told the before Jenrick’s defection to Reform UK: “It doesn’t surprise me, I don’t think he is very loyal and he wanted to become leader.”
Jenrick responded on X, saying “it’s time for the truth”, before being unveiled as a Reform UK member by party leader Nigel Farage.
The 44-year-old was elected in a by-election to the Nottinghamshire seat in 2014 with a majority of 7,400.
He went on to become the housing secretary under Boris Johnson and was a immigration minister under Rishi Sunak. He also served as a health minister for a brief period under Liz Truss’s 49-day tenure as prime minister.
Badenoch did not say where Jenrick was planning to defect, but he was later unveiled as a member of Reform UK on Thursday.
Jenrick’s sacking and subsequent defection now means it is the first time Nottinghamshire has had no Conservative representation in Parliament since 1970.
EPASpeaking in Newark town centre before Jenrick defected, Cullen agreed with Badenoch on her decision to sack him.
“I don’t think he is to be trusted… I think he should resign, if anyone wants to switch parties they should have the courage to stand [in a by-election],” he said.
Marilyn Mackay, from Newark, said she was “delighted” by Jenrick’s sacking.
“I’m not a Conservative voter to start with, but I find him to be a big bossy boy,” she said.
“It’s typical of him, he just wants to be up the front all the time… it’s not good enough.”
Eileen Moore said she was a fan of Jenrick and added she thought he was “doing a good job”.
But she was not keen on the Newark MP joining up with Reform UK.
“It’s so complicated now, it’s not like it was years ago… they promise you the earth and to tell you the truth, I try and take no notice of it all,” Moore said.
On hearing the news, she added: “I wouldn’t say I was surprised, I wasn’t upset, I’ve just lost a lot of faith in [politicians] myself.”
Vicky Roe, another constituent who voted for Jenrick, was another who said she was “not surprised” by the reports of his plans to defect.
“He’s been acting this way for some time, it’s quite obvious,” Roe said.
“I haven’t given it much thought [that he is no longer a Conservative], but it will please my partner because he voted for Reform.”
She added she “doesn’t trust” Reform UK but said there “needs to be some crossover”.
Conservative councillor Keith Girling, who retook the Newark West seat in a by-election from Reform UK in July 2025, celebrated his victory with Jenrick at the time.
Girling said he had called Jenrick on learning the news, but he did not pick up.
He added Badenoch had “done absolutely the right thing”.
“I’m obviously very, very, very disappointed in Robert. I’m a great believer in loyalty and he’s shown a complete lack of loyalty there,” he said.
“[Badenoch’s] shown real leadership there to sack him, kick him out of the party, and we’ll deal with the aftermath.”
Girling says Jenrick “obviously wanted to be the leader” of the Conservative party and was “clearly” disappointed he did not achieve that.
“But that’s not down to the efforts of this association [who have] always supported him… and he’s really just sort of turned his back on all that, on that loyalty, and gone his own way,” he added.
Additional reporting by David Pittam
