Robert Jenrick sought to access the private information of Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman, six months before defecting to Nigel Farage’s party.
In leaked messages seen by The Times, Jenrick, now the party’s economic spokesman, asked a senior Conservative figure if they held details on Yusuf, such as if he had applied to be a Tory party candidate. He added: “We should destroy him”.
Robert Jenrick
PAUL ELLIS/AFP
At the time, Jenrick had accused Yusuf of antisemitism after his account liked an antisemitic X post attacking Jenrick’s wife.
Yusuf claimed that a member of his team with access to his account had “accidentally” liked the post, but Jenrick described this as “bullshit” and called for Yusuf to be given “the boot” from Reform.
In the messages, Jenrick was advised to be careful about sharing Yusuf’s details but agreed that it was “dog eat dog” and that the “gloves are off now”.
Jenrick asked: “Hi. Do we have any information on Zia? Did he apply to be a candidate? Do we have his candidate application form? We should destroy him. Rob.”
He added: “I think gloves are off now. It’s dog eat dog with him!”
A Tory party source said that Jenrick and his team were “completely obsessed” with undermining Yusuf and used to call him “Zia Useless”.
Zia Yusuf
JOHN NGUYEN FOR THE TIMES
They said: “Jenrick was incandescent about Zia labelling him as a traitor to Britain and ridiculing his record on immigration.
“Rob only ever referred to him as Zia Useless. Zia should watch his back, he’ll be first out of the door when Rob takes over from Nigel.”
Jenrick’s team have categorically denied claims that they were investigating Yusuf.
Jenrick defected to Reform in January after being kicked out of the Conservative Party by Kemi Badenoch, who said she had received “clear, irrefutable evidence” that he was plotting to join Farage’s party.
Jenrick, who served in government under four Tory prime ministers between 2018 and 2023, has since described his former party as “rotten”.
Yusuf and Jenrick have not shied away from public confrontations in the past, with Jenrick’s defection bringing concern the party could become marred by infighting.
Last summer, the pair engaged in an argument on X, when Yusuf said that the Conservatives had failed to bring down migration figures.
Jenrick insisted that he had fought “tooth and nail” to slash numbers as immigration minister. “Did the last government do enough? No. That’s why I resigned,” he said.
“But enough about me. Why do your own colleagues call you Zia Useless?”
Yusuf responded: “Robert, everyone in Westminster hears what you have been saying to the wet Tory MPs, how you are only “pivoting right to hurt Reform” and then will go back to the centre, where you came from.
“This true? Is that what you were telling Cameron at Osborne at that cosy dinner recently?”
After Jenrick’s defection to Reform UK in January, Yusuf said Jenrick had been “clear-eyed” about the way Conservatives had “betrayed” voters.
He admitted he had dined with Jenrick since their fight and that the pair now had a “great working relationship”.
“My assessment is this is a man who is thoughtful, who is clear-eyed about all of the different ways the Tories betrayed this country and wants to help Nigel, help me, help Richard [Tice] and everyone at Reform repair that damage,” he said.
A source close to Jenrick said: “Rob’s sorry that some of his former colleagues are still so upset about him leaving the party, and hopes they can move on in time. It was only a few months ago that frontbench colleagues wanted to see the back of Kemi.”