Badenoch warns Tory MPs about people trying to ‘undermine party from within’

Robert Jenrick’s defection does not mean the Conservatives are moving towards the centre ground, Kemi Badenoch has told her MPs in a letter that warned about people seeking to “undermine the party from within”.In a lengthy message to the MPs, seen by the Guardian, Badenoch said the party must avoid “psychodrama”, “intrigue” and damaging splits, saying a small number of Tory staffers were briefing against the party while claiming to be Conservative sources.“I ask everyone to satisfy themselves that their staff are acting in line with our strategy and values,” she wrote. “Undermining the party from within, whether by MPs or by staff, is unacceptable.”Badenoch was due to meet groups of MPs on Monday and speak to the entire parliamentary party on Wednesday, in the wake of three defections in a week, two involving sitting MPs.After Nadhim Zahawi, the former MP and cabinet minister, defected to Reform a week ago, on Thursday Jenrick, who was shadow justice secretary, also joined Reform when Badenoch sacked him for having secret talks with Nigel Farage.On Sunday, another sitting MP, Andrew Rosindell, quit for Reform, citing worries about the deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius as his main reason.Calling the defections a “minor setback, not a defining moment”, Badenoch insisted they did not mean a shift towards more centrist Tory policies. “Some of our former colleagues opining on social media seem to have taken these defections as a signal that the party is shifting (or should) ideologically away from the right. This is a serious misreading of the situation,” she said.“These defections are not about policy differences or ideology; they are about character. We are THE party of the right and must remain so.”Badenoch was again scathing about Jenrick’s decision to stay as a Tory MP and shadow minister for months while he was secretly in talks with Farage. “Robert had resolved to leave some time ago, though he continued to attend meetings, sit around the table, and present himself as part of a collective effort,” she wrote.“Trust and teamwork are not optional in a serious political party that is looking to get into government. While I am sad at the outcome and though it was necessary to have spent the last few days dealing with the immediate aftermath, it is now time to move on.”Rosindell’s stated reasons for leaving – that Badenoch’s Tories had not sufficiently opposed the Chagos plan – “do not stand up to scrutiny”, she said, adding: “We all know he had his difficulties.”The acquisition of such MPs, she predicted, would bring trouble for Farage. “Reform now has more internal contradiction and ideological incoherence. They are not a centre-right party. They are a populist party with one or two rightwing ideas overshadowed by a desire for big state solutions we simply cannot afford.“Taking on more defectors with similarly incoherent outlooks will create problems for them soon enough. We cannot be distracted by this.”While polling for the Conservatives remains largely abysmal, with national ratings struggling to reach even 20%, Badenoch is seen in the party as having rallied in recent months, and colleagues praised her decisiveness in sacking Jenrick and stripping him of the party whip.Plotting would not be tolerated, she told her MPs: “Differences of opinion are part of a healthy party. But there is a clear line between disagreement and trying to damage the party from within.“Those who cannot be part of a Conservative party that is changing in this way are free to make other choices. Those who want to undermine or destroy the party will be dealt with firmly and fairly.”