Labour’s assistant whip Jake Richards has told Robert Jenrick to quit politics following his sacking from the Conservative frontbench, declaring “it is time to hang up your boots”.
Speaking on GB News, Mr Richards said Mr Jenrick had “had his go” after holding a string of senior roles over the past 14 years, arguing he had failed to deliver on key issues, including immigration and NHS waiting lists.
Earlier today, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch stated she had been presented with "clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect in a way designed to be as damaging as possible to his shadow cabinet colleagues and the wider Conservative Party".
Ms Badenoch had declared in her announcement the public had grown weary of political theatrics, stating: "The British public are tired of political psychodrama and so am I.
Assistant Whip and Parliament Under-Secretary Mr Richards told The People's Channel: "I think it tells us a lot about the state of both Reform and the Conservatives.
"On the one hand, Reform looks poised to accept Robert Jenrick a man Nigel Farage said just weeks ago could not be trusted and was a complete fraud.
"Reform keeps telling your viewers and the British public that it is the party of change, but increasingly it is clear they are becoming a backwater for failed Conservative politicians who ran this country for 14 years.
"As for the Conservatives, this is déjà vu. We have lived through this psychodrama of defections, rebellions and plots for 14 years and it failed the British people. It looks like it is over for them, and this is just another chapter in the same saga."
Jake Richards said it is 'time to hang up the boots'
|GB NEWS
He added: "Meanwhile, today the Government is delivering: waiting lists have seen their second-biggest drop in 15 years, growth figures are better than expected, action has been taken on Grok, and interest rates are moving in the right direction.
"We are focused on delivering for the British people not on the endless psychodrama the other two parties are obsessed with.
"Now, some are calling this strong leadership from Kemi Badenoch. I disagree.
"She says she found evidence of treachery and stepped in to sack him.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch sacked Robert Jenrick from the Shadow Cabinet and suspended him from the party following allegations of a secret plot to defect to Reform UK | ROBERT JENRICK"But let’s be honest she rushed out a video filmed on her phone from a hotel room in Scotland because she knew, as we all did, that Robert Jenrick had been talking to Reform, considering a defection and was already halfway out of the door. That is not leadership; that is weakness.
Delivering a message to Mr Jenrick, he said: "My message to him is simple. He held more ministerial jobs than almost anyone in the last 14 years.
"He was health minister when waiting lists exploded.
"He was immigration minister when illegal migration surged and the small boats crisis began. He has had his chance."
"I think he should hang up his boots and enjoy retirement.
GB News political editor Christopher Hope pointed out: "Perhaps his experience makes him useful to Nigel Farage useful in knowing how to fail in Government.
"And if Nigel Farage wants to divide this country and be a disastrous prime minister, then having Robert Jenrick by his side may suit him perfectly."
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter