Robert Jenrick has declared war on "activist judges" by demanding the removal of those who "want to enter the political sphere".
The Shadow Justice Secretary intervention comes just hours after a fresh two-tier justice row erupted over the decision to acquit ex-Labour Councillor Ricky Jones over his inflammatory comments about "cutting the throats" of anti-migrant protesters last summer.
However, concerns about liberal-minded judges have become a fixture of political discourse since a Brexit-induced paralysis led the Supreme Court to rule that Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament was unlawful.
**ARE YOU READING THIS ON OUR APP? DOWNLOAD NOW FOR THE BEST GB NEWS EXPERIENCE**
Further issues emerged when the UK's highest court came down hard on Rishi Sunak's proposed Rwanda relocation scheme.
Discussing "activist" judges, Mr Jenrick said: “If judges want to enter the political sphere themselves, then they should stop being judges and go into politics.
"We have to have a situation where judges who act politically and bring their own personal politics into their job as a judge are held to account and frankly, can be removed."
He added: “In some areas, our judges are among the most respected in the world, like in the commercial courts.
“But in others, like immigration tribunals, the independence of the judiciary is being brought into disrepute.
LATEST ROBERT JENRICK STORIES:
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick
|PA
“There’s no point extricating ourselves from activist judges in Strasbourg only to be beholden to activist judges here.”
Mr Jenrick is now considering restoring the power to appoint judges to the Lord Chancellor and loosening the mechanisms to remove judges found to have been engaging too closely in politics.
The Newark MP, who last year missed out on the Tory leadership in a knife-edge race against Kemi Badenoch, also reiterated that he wants all illegal migrants entering the UK to face deportation.
However, Mr Jenrick appeared to concede burgeoning support for Nigel Farage's Reform UK has partly been fuelled by the Tory Party's handling of the migrant crisis.
LATEST REFORM UK STORIES:
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage
|PA
Net migration soared in the final years of the Conservative Party's stint in power, with Channel crossings also exceeding 45,000 in 2022.
Fury with the Tory Party's handling of migration eventually reduced Mr Sunak's Conservatives to just 121 seats, enabling Mr Farage to enter the House of Commons at the eighth bite of the cherry.
Speaking about the rise of Reform UK, Mr Jenrick told The Telegraph: “Yeah, look, probably more than anyone in the Conservative Party, I’ve been painfully honest about the mistakes of the last Conservative Government.
"We let people down and I’m very sorry for that. We made promises on some of the biggest issues facing our country, like immigration, and then failed to keep them.
Robert Jenrick
| HOUSE OF COMMONS“I think Reform is a symptom, not a cause. It’s the failure of the Conservative Party that has allowed Reform to rise.
"Nigel Farage and Reform speak for millions of people. I share that anger and frustration that those people feel.
"What the Conservative Party has to do now is be honest about what it got wrong, listen to the public and, in time, bring forward serious answers to the challenges that are facing the country.”
However, Mr Jenrick stuck to Mrs Badenoch's line by appearing to rule out a pact between the Tories and Reform UK.
Despite finding themselves on the same side on a number of political issues, there has been no love lost between Mr Jenrick and Mr Farage.
Mr Farage jokingly said last year: "If you want lessons in being Nigel Farage, I'm very happy to coach you."
Nigel Farage | GETTYMeanwhile, Mr Jenrick suggested Mr Farage had "one too many pints" earlier this year after Reform UK appeared to back Sir Keir Starmer's £3.5billion increase in welfare spending.
When asked about a potential Tory leadership run in the future, Mr Jenrick also pivoted away from giving a clear-cut answer, instead stressing he was happy to join Mrs Badenoch's Shadow Cabinet.
However, Reform's rise in the opinion polls continues to send jitters down Tory and Labour spines.
Polling aggregator Nowcast currently has Reform UK securing just enough votes to command a razor-thin majority in the House of Commons on 332 seats, leaving Labour languishing in a distant second on 125, the Liberal Democrats in third on 78, the Scottish National Party in fourth on 44, and the Tories down to a humiliating 32.
However, More in Common's poll this week handed Tories a much-needed lifeline, with Mrs Badenoch's Conservatives receiving a four-point boost to leave them level with Labour on 22 per cent and eight-points behind Reform UK on 30 per cent.