TORY civil war erupted today after leader Kemi Badenoch sacked her hard-right rival Robert Jenrick and suspended him from the party.

Ms Badenoch acted after uncovering what she called “irrefutable evidence” that the shadow justice secretary was on the verge of a damaging defection from the Conservatives.

And indeed, by late afternoon Mr Jenrick was appearing at a press conference with Nigel Farage to confirm that he is the Reform boss’s latest recruit.

Mr Farage said that Ms Badenoch’s move had “handed me on a plate the man that is by far the most popular figure,” which rather overstated Mr Jenrick’s relatability, and claimed that “there’ll be a Labour defection next week which you’ll all be invited to.”

Mr Jenrick said the Tories and Labour were “rotten. They are no longer fit for purpose. They both broke Britain and neither can fix it.”

He added Britain would be “lost” if Labour were re-elected, saying “whilst this government is accelerating our decline, they didn’t begin it. We’ve had 20 to 30 years of this.”

The Tory party in Westminster “isn’t sorry, it doesn’t get it,” and “don’t have the stomach for the radical change this country needs” he said, singling out shadow chancellor Mel Stirde and shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel for particular attack.

Ms Badenoch told Farage that Jenrick was “not my problem any more, he’s your problem now” and announced that Nick Timothy would be the new shadow justice secretary.

“I have sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership with immediate effect,” Ms Badenoch said.

“The British public are tired of political psychodrama, and so am I. They saw too much of it in the last government, they’re seeing too much of it in this government.”

Mr Jenrick has been reportedly manoeuvred to replace Ms Badenoch since he lost the 2024 leadership race to her.

Ms Badenoch said: “Disloyalty and dishonesty undermine trust in politics. They are also disrespectful to our party members, our councillors and MPs and most of all voters.”

Local Tories in Mr Jenrick’s Newark constituency backed Ms Badenoch.  

Association chairman Keith Girling said: “Jenrick has let down his party, let down the activists who campaigned for him as a Conservative MP, and let down the voters of Newark who re-elected him in 2024.”

But former Tory Chancellor George Osborne warned Ms Badenoch that “the psychodrama is just beginning” and that this marked “the proper beginning of the civil war inside the right” with pressure growing for a pact between the two parties.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that the “flood” of Conservative politicians joining Reform proves the “Tory Party is a sinking ship.”

He said: “Mr Jenrick has been making toxic comments to try and divide our country for months and months and it’s only now, when he’s on the verge of defecting to Reform, that Badenoch gets round to sacking him.”

Mr Farage has already welcomed former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi to Reform this week, where he joins more than 20 former Tory MPs, which makes some Reform activists uncomfortable.

London mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham denounced Mr Jenrick last week over his record as immigration minister in the last government and only five months ago Mr Farage himself called him “a fraud.”

It is understood that Mr Jenrick, who is believed to have dined with the Reform leader last month, left lying around a draft resignation speech including strong attacks on Tory colleagues, prompting Ms Badenoch to act.