Robert Jenrick has said the Conservative Party "is over" and has "no future" after defecting to Reform on Thursday.
The former shadow justice secretary joined Nigel Farage’s Reform UK during a chaotic press conference later that day, hours after being sacked by Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who said her decision was based on “irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect."
Speaking to ITV News on Friday, Jenrick said his former party "hasn’t learnt its lessons" and had "failed the country".
He said he was ashamed of the last Tory government, having been an active member of parliament since June 2014.
"Yes, I’m ashamed of the actions of the last Conservative government on so many fronts," he said.
Jenrick also said that Reform is a "fundamentally new" party, despite having disaffected former Conservatives as some of its most well-known figures.
The new Reform UK MP told ITV News his defection is not about personal ambition, but about fixing a ‘broken’ Britain.
• Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2lOHmNj
• Get breaking news and more stories at http://www.itv.com/news
Follow ITV News on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@itvnews?lang=en
Follow ITV News on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itvnews/
Follow ITV News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itvnews/
Follow ITV News on X: https://twitter.com/itvnews
