Jenrick wastes no time throwing Farage under the bus

On X, Owen Jones has highlighted Reform MP Robert Jenrick’s response to Liz Truss’s continued presence in the Conservative Party. Asked in a Sky News interview whether Truss should have been expelled after her disastrous budget, Jenrick’s answer appeared to contradict his own party leader – something Jones was quick to point out.

This is totally absurd.

Robert Jenrick says he wanted the Tories to expel Liz Truss over her disastrous mini-Budget.

Does he realise his new leader lauded that catastrophe as "the best Conservative budget since 1986"? https://t.co/mHzIlDYetv pic.twitter.com/lbO4Mncx1m

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) January 19, 2026

Whoops!

The conversation with Sky News’ Sophy Ridge went:

Robert Jenrick: If the Conservative party has really changed, why wouldn’t you kick Liz Truss out? I’ve told Kemi to do that. She chose not to. And it speaks to a broader truth.

Sophy Ridge: You told Kemi Badenoch to kick out Liz Truss?

Jenrick: Multiple times

Jones notes that Nigel Farage, leader of Reform and now Jenrick’s boss, has previously praised Truss’s budget. In fact, Farage has called it “the best Conservative budget since 1986″.

Instability can be highly lucrative for the richest minority, which may help explain Farage’s approval.

Nevertheless, the budget is widely regarded as disastrous economic policy. We’ve previously written about who stood to benefit from the budget; and the denial she continues to inhabit. Instead, Truss has since chosen to stoke conspiracy theories to explain the fallout, in a manner uncomfortably reminiscent of Trump-era politics.

This will age perfectly when Truss joins Reform. https://t.co/J7RKaDdjj0

— M🇺🇦 (@b0n0myt1res) January 19, 2026

Jenrick appears unwilling to fully embrace Farage’s politics, or those of his US far-right counterparts. This obvious clash hints at a possible identity crisis for the party in the near future. Farage has always pushed boundaries, challenged norms, and thrived on chaos; whereas Jenrick has been groomed in an establishment party, accustomed to following where he thinks public consensus lies.

This account suggests its less about a difference in perspective, and more Jenrick’s style of politics:

When your leadership campaign is just pointing at different people yelling “not it”

Ironically Jenrick also appears to inadvertently be making his old boss look better. It’s worth noting Sophy Ridge did challenge Jenrick on Badenoch’s rising popularity as being the real reason behind his defection:

Fundamentally dishonest. Truss isn't an MP. Kicking her out of the party for having been a bad PM would be ridiculously authoritarian, and with only symbolic value. It speaks well of Kemi that she doesn't feel she has to indulge in performative politics. This man is just odious. https://t.co/CgiO2DFHng

— Andrew J. Willshire (@ajwillshire) January 19, 2026

Pointing out Jenrick’s hypocrisy, this account points out he seemingly had no concerns about the budget when it came out. This only goes to show that Jenrick can’t actually identify an issue until the results speak for themselves and angry people tell him what to think. Hardly the guy to come along and ‘get things right’:

Also, back in Sept 2022, Jenrick wasn’t one of the Tories who objected to the Truss/Kwarteng mini-budget disaster. He is trying to make himself look as if he did years after the event

Jenrick: throw it and see what sticks

The far-right playbook has always been to exploit legitimate public anger. Instead of addressing the anger, they redirect it away from those actually responsible for the everyday struggle to make ends meet. Currently, Jenrick is desperate to gain popularity by pointing at the failures under successive Tory governments.

However, Farage will clearly have his hands full with Jenrick as they are both keen to deflect blame and seek virtue off the backs of others’ failures. They are also perfectly happy to throw others under the bus for their own self-interest.

Featured image via the Canary