After Robert Jenrick’s (not entirely) shocking defection to Reform in January, Westminster’s eyes swiftly turned towards one of the Tory party’s new bright young thing’s: Katie Lam. Would the 34-year-old MP for Weald of Kent pack her bags and follow her political chum across the teal Rubicon? Lam, widely regarded as a rising star on the opposition benches, had been an indefatigable cheerleader for Jenrick during his failed run for the Tory leadership in 2024.
But appearing on The Spectator’s podcast Quite right! today, Lam briskly swatted away any suggestion that she might be tempted to join Honest Bob on his new adventure. Indeed, she disclosed that she has not spoken to him ‘even once’, neither in person nor via message, since his leap to the teal team. Before the defection, she maintained that ‘everything I’ve seen’ of Jenrick indicated he was ‘very very committed to the Conservative party’ and insisting his departure came as a ‘total shock’. To some, maybe not all, Steerpike ventures…
If Lam’s podcast appearance is anything to go by, reconciliation is not high on the agenda. Jenrick, don’t forget, had been plotting his departure at a moment calculated to inflict maximum damage on his former colleagues, only for Kemi Badenoch to spoil the drama by booting him out before he could slam the door himself. The episode has clearly left its mark, and Lam now appears less misty-eyed about her former ally. As she put it:
I think, in particular, that he was going to leave in a way that felt quite sort of personal and unnecessary, which revealed things about his character that certainly I hadn’t been aware of before.
On the broader Reform question, the shadow Home Office minister was prepared to offer a compliment of sorts to Nigel Farage, conceding he is ‘a brilliant communicator’ but suggesting he is not ‘equipped’ to be Prime Minister. A slap in the face for some in Reform who have not concealed their admiration for this rising Tory star…
Listen to the full podcast here:
Comments