How mild mannered ‘Robert Generic’ turned into right-wing wannabe Tory leader

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So cautious and average was former immigration minister Robert Jenrick when he entered the Commons that he was nicknamed “Robert Generic”.

Mr Jenrick ticked each field of the Conservative cliche. A historical past graduate from Cambridge and a certified solicitor, he joined parliament as MP for Newark in 2014. He voted to stay within the EU and backed Theresa May’s Brexit deal thrice. He served as a minister in a number of departments underneath each prime minister since 2017. It is not any shock that he has lengthy been thought-about a average throughout the celebration.

As a long-standing buddy of Rishi Sunak, Mr Jenrick appeared like the plain option to preserve a watchful eye over the incalculable Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Mr Sunak might have hoped that teddy bear-like Mr Jenrick would preserve the wild bear Ms Braverman underneath management – as an alternative, after 13 months, he joined her. Now he’s amongst favourites to succeed Mr Sunak if the Tories lose – or if the prime minister is ousted earlier than the election, nonetheless unlikely that appears.

It is with nice stealth that Mr Jenrick has crept up the checklist of attainable management contenders. Despite serving in a number of, high-profile departments, such because the treasury, well being, dwelling workplace and housing, the previous minister’s identify by no means entered conversations about management till just lately. But those that have labored with him are complimentary, describing him as “deeply cerebral”, a talented communicator, and say his political imaginative and prescient extends far past simply immigration.

Housing is of excessive precedence to Mr Jenrick. Having introduced ahead proposed planning reforms as housing minister and issued a plea to his successor, Michael Gove, to not water down house-building commitments, he breaks with some within the celebration who’ve opposed housing targets. Mr Jenrick has warned that the celebration will lose younger voters in the event that they don’t make good on their housing pledges. With solely 10 per cent of these under-50 predicted to vote Tory on the subsequent election, conservative strategiests say a pro-house constructing stance may very well be the one approach to keep away from wipe-out.

But regardless of his seemingly centrist credentials, allies insist he has at all times been of the best. One observer says that it’s the Conservative celebration that has moved additional left, citing David Cameron’s 2010 manifesto dedication to cut back internet migration to “tens of thousands a year”, significantly lower than the federal government’s present internet migration figures of 672,000 in 2023.

Though usually seen because the extra average power within the Home Office, Mr Jenrick seized headlines by ordering murals of Mickey Mouse and Baloo from the Jungle Book to be scrubbed from immigration detention centre as a result of they had been too welcoming. Both Ms Braverman and Mr Jenrick have a long-standing friendship, having studied collectively at Cambridge University and labored carefully within the Home Office, and so they have remained aligned on amendments to Mr Sunak’s Rwanda laws.

Whispers in Westminster are that Mr Jenrick’s weight-loss and new haircut is a transparent indication of ambition. He has not stated he would run for the management – however has not dominated it out both. Those near him say they don’t have any information of his future ambitions, however are eager to sing his praises.

There is not any denying he abruptly appears to be like – and sounds – hungry, spearheading insurgent amendments towards Mr Sunak’s Rwanda invoice, and holding the pen on Telegraph op-eds which might be overtly crucial of the federal government’s place. “In almost everyone’s eyes he’s grown in stature,” says senior Conservative MP and shut buddy Sir John Hayes.

But his document shouldn’t be fully faultless. Back in 2020, he was concerned in a cronyism scandal, when he overruled a planning choice to profit newspaper magnate Richard Desmond, who then donated £12,000 to the celebration.

As housing minister, he was accused by a few of his colleagues of “concreting over” their constituencies, in his push to construct extra rural properties.

Mr Jenrick can also be married to Michal Berkner, a rich lawyer. If the Conservatives wished to selected a leader that represented a break from the previous couple of a long time, chosing one other Oxbridge attendee with hundreds of thousands within the financial institution wouldn’t be clever.

Few commentators doubt that the Tories are heading for defeat on the coming election. They say the celebration will inevitably lurch to the best, particularly as Nigel Farage embarks on a media resurgence and Reform UK nibble away at Conservative seats. A current YouGov ballot predicts the celebration may recieve as a lot as 12 per cent of the vote share – placing a substantial dint within the Conservative assist base.

But there are those that fear that Farage’s model of brash populism may frighten away voters. Some within the celebration nonetheless speak extremely of Ms Braverman’s prospects, however admit her communication is probably not to everybody’s style. Mr Jenrick’s supply feels extra palatable. “He excudes reasonableness,” one Tory MP muses.

How far more protected and smart to select somebody like Mr Jenrick who holds related views however appears so much less scary. After all, who will be frightened by a teddy bear in a go well with?