Kemi Badneoch has told Reform UK leader Nigel Farage that Robert Jenrick is now “his problem” in a passing swipe after sacking him this morning.

Speaking to GB News, the Tory leader hit out at her former Shadow Justice Secretary, declaring he is “no longer her problem”.

Reflecting on her decision to sack Mr Jenrick, Mrs Badenoch revealed she received “lots of evidence” pointing to his potential defection.

She explained: “We’ve actually had lots of evidence, many different people telling us different things – some within our party, some even from Reform, to be perfectly honest.

“But the last straw, and what pushed me to make this decision was we’ve seen that Robert had plans not just to leave, but to actually hurt the people that he’d been working with.”

She made clear: “I’m the leader of our party, and I have to be responsible for all of the people out there, the MSPs here in Scotland, the councillors fighting elections, and they need to know that we in Westminster are giving them a good backdrop explaining what our policies are.

“The public are tired of all of this psychodrama, all of this personal ambition, everyone trying to, you know, harm the other person. I’m sick of it and I’m just done. And I asked him to leave. We don’t want people like that in our party.”

Asked by GB News’s Chief Political Correspondent Katherine Forster if she has spoken to Mr Jenrick since sacking him, she admitted: “Not yet, but I wasn’t necessarily expecting him to get in contact. I don’t think he’s said anything at the moment, I’ve been on a trip today, it was a pre-planned trip, I’ve had a really good visit talking to businesses in Edinburgh, and I’ve been on a plane.

“But I needed people to understand not just what I was doing, but why. And what I’m trying to do is build a Conservative Party that doesn’t have the drama in it. We’re all about sorting out our economy, a stronger economy, a stronger country.

“We made mistakes before, we’ve acknowledged them. We want to help fix the things that need fixing. We are the party of solutions. I believe Rob wants to go to Reform, they’re the party of problems.”

Swiping at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, Mrs Badenoch told GB News: “He doesn’t know what I’m thinking. He was caught out this morning and he was absolutely gobsmacked at what had happened. And he’s the one who gave us the clearest evidence yet.

“He admitted that he had been talking to Robert about the defection, and all I would say to Nigel is, Rob’s not my problem anymore, he’s your problem now.”

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Rebutting Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s claims that sacking Mr Jenrick makes her look “weak”, she hit back: “I think that is laughable. The weakest person right in our country right now is Keir Starmer. He’s standing there shaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, worried about what Wes Streeting is doing, what Ed Miliband is doing, what Angela Rayner is doing.

“As I said to him yesterday, he doesn’t need to worry about me. I’m alright, he needs to worry about himself.”

Declaring that her party is going to be “stronger” without Mr Jenrick in it, she said: “I think the party is going to be stronger. The public did not like all of the infighting, all of the psychodrama, Rob and the gang of people who he has around with him were the same people who were trying to unseat Rishi Sunak when he was Prime Minister.

“It’s time for us to draw a line under all of that rubbish. We are standing for Conservative values, Conservative principles, things that people understand citizenship, family equality under the law, a stronger economy, making sure that work pays, getting people off benefits, leaving the ECHR so we can control our borders. I don’t think Rob actually disagrees with any of those policies.”

Asked how she is feeling following the sacking of Mr Jenrick, Mrs Badenoch admitted: “Well, honestly, I’m feeling a bit sad. I never like to let people go, but if people are behaving inappropriately, then for the good of everyone else, it has to happen.

“But I don’t want people to ever be in any doubt. I have strong beliefs. I have strong convictions. I’m not someone who rushes to make decisions. But if I’m doing something you can trust and know that I’m doing it for the right reasons, and because I’ve done my homework and I have the evidence.”

Hailing his new replacement Nick Timothy, Mrs Badenoch concluded: “Nick has drawn attention to the scandal of the West Midlands Police, everyone can now see that the Chief Constable there really should be going. The Home Secretary has been too weak to sack and she should do so.

“This would not have happened without Nick exposing that scandal of Maccabi Tel Aviv and West Midlands Police. And I think that he will do a fabulous job as Shadow Justice Secretary. We have a lot of talent on our benches. We’re not a one man band like Reform. We have a lot of people who will do great work, and I look forward to working with Nick.”