Michael Gove has warned Robert Jenrick’s reputation will be scarred by “treachery” after his dramatic defection to Reform UK.
The former Conservative cabinet minister referred to himself as a “cautionary tale” as he said Mr Jenrick’s scathing attack on his former party would inflict lasting damage on his reputation.
He compared the move to his own notorious betrayal of Boris Johnson in 2016, when Mr Gove sabotaged Mr Johnson’s first Tory leadership challenge after helping him win the EU referendum by suddenly announcing his own ill-fated bid.
Lord Gove said it led to him being seen by voters as a traitor to this day – and the same fate would befall Mr Jenrick.
“Irrespective of what I have done in government, the most striking moment in my career was in 2016 when I decided I could no longer support Boris Johnson as a potential leader of the Conservative Party,” the former education secretary told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“Not only did I withdraw my support, I declared my own candidature. In the eyes of most people at the time, and continuing to this day, it didn’t matter what my reasons were: the overall impression was of treachery.”
He also said the allegations of plotting surrounding Mr Jenrick’s defection were turning Reform into a political version of Slytherin house from the Harry Potter novels – associated with the dark arts of sinister wizard Voldemort and conniving pupil Draco Malfoy.
He said: “And while of course Reform have gained a talent, there is a danger and there is a danger for Reform, a double danger.
“Danger one is that after the defection of Nadhim Zahawi earlier this week, there’s a risk that rather than seeming as a fresh force determined to clean up politics, they look rather more like Slytherin house, they look rather more like the home of those that are the intriguers.”
He also suggested Mr Jenrick defected because he figured Kemi Badenoch had cemented her position as leader in recent months, killing off his own ambition of replacing her.
“If Rob thought he had a chance of becoming leader because the local elections [in May] or other events would undermine Kemi, I think he would have stayed,” he said.
“His conclusion was that Kemi was in a stronger position and, emphatically, because of the way she handled this, she is.”
Ms Badenoch announced she was sacking Mr Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removing the whip and suspending his party membership in a post on X (Twitter) on Thursday.
A mole in Mr Jenrick’s team is believed to have passed on a draft of his resignation speech and media plan for his planned defection to Reform UK, according to reports, after earlier suggestions that the document had been found “lying around”.
Mr Gove added that the unfolding of events gave the overall impression “he was caught mid-plot”.
“This was not a decision he was the master of, so that creates a challenge for him, and it also creates a challenge for Reform,” he said.