The failed Tory minister was booted out the party after his plans to quit were revealed to Kemi Badenoch, who now finds herself no longer having to defend the things he does or says
Robert Jenrick is back in the headlines amid claims a donation to his Tory leadership campaign is being investigated by police.
The controversial Reform frontbencher, who joined Nigel Farage’s party after being dramatically sacked by Kemi Badenoch earlier this year, has denied any wrongdoing.
It is the latest controversy in a chequered career which has seen him make a decision deemed to be unlawful, ordered a mural for immigrant children be painted over, and compared a Birmingham area to a slum.
Here The Mirror took a look at his worst and most controversial moments.
Painting over a mural for children
The cruel former Tory minister ordered staff at a centre for child refugees to paint over a Mickey Mouse mural because it was too “welcoming”.
The mural, depicting Mickey and Minnie Mouse, was painted over along with images of Winnie the Pooh and Baloo from The Jungle Book.
Mr Jenrick made the order in 2023 after seeing the loveable characters on the wall at an asylum reception centre in Dover, Kent.
Responding at the time, fefugee campaigner and Labour peer Lord Dubs, who fled the Nazis as a child on the Kindertransport scheme, branded the move a “disgrace”.
Unlawfully approving housing project for Tory donor
The ex-housing minister sparked a row after intervening to expedite approval for media mogul Richard Desmond’s housing project – after the pair shared a table at a Tory fundraising dinner.
It would have approved the Westferry Printworks project planned for South London just a day before a new infrastructure charge was introduced that would have cost Mr Desmond more than £40 million.
Texts between the pair show Mr Desmond lobbied the top Tory over the project, and told him to act so the “Marxists” at the council did not get “doe for nothing”.
Weeks later, Mr Desmond personally donated £12,000 to the Conservative Party.
Michael Gove later reversed the decision, rejecting the plan – and Mr Jenrick accepted the decision-making had been “unlawful”.
Comparing Birmingham area to ‘slum’
Mr Jenrick faced a furious reaction after a leaked recording revealed he told Conservative activists he did not see another white face in 90 minutes in Birmingham during a discussion on integration.
Mr Jenrick was recorded describing Handsworth in Birmingham as “as close as I’ve come to a slum in this country” and said it was “one of the worst integrated places I’ve ever been to”. He then said: “In fact, in the hour and a half I was filming news there I didn’t see another white face.”
Responding at the time, Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: “Robert Jenrick’s comments are disgraceful. It shows a complete lack of respect for the people of our region. Handsworth is a community where people of different backgrounds all live and work side by side.”
Saying anyone who shouts ‘Allahu Akbar’ should be arrested
While running for Tory leader Mr was criticised for saying people should be arrested for shouting “Allahu Akbar”.
The former minister was accused of “nasty divisive rhetoric” and “textbook Islamophobia” for condemning the phrase, which means “God is great” in Arabic – similar to “Hallelujah”.
Responding, Tory peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi said: “This language from Jenrick is more of his usual nasty divisive rhetoric – he is such a tool.”
Approving funds his own seat
Labour demanded a probe in 2020 after Robert Jenrick was awarded £25m from his own department for his own seat.
His constituency was one of 61 areas hand-picked by his ministers to bid for the Towns Fund, just three months before last year’s election.
The Communities Secretary denied he was involved personally in handing cash to his own seat, insisting there was a “robust and fair” system in place.
Botched defection
Mr Jenrick announced he had joined the right-wing party earlier this year just hours after being sensationally sacked by Kemi Badenoch, who accused him of plotting to inflict the maximum damage on her.
Mrs Badenoch learned of the plot after a speech announcing his exit were left lying around by a member of his team.
His daughter’s middle name is Thatcher
Mr Jenrick revealed at Tory conference 2024 that his daughter Sophia’s middle name was Thatcher.
He said: “She was born the year that Margaret Thatcher died. As you know, I respect strong women. In fact, everyone is female at my house. I’ve got three daughters, my wife and two dogs, who are both female. I thought it was a good way of reminding her of a great prime minister.”
Using footage of dead soldier to make misleading killing claim
During the Tory leadership race, Mr Jenrick used footage of a soldier who has since died to make a misleading claim about SAS troops killing rather than capturing militants, it is claimed. Tory Tom Tugendhat, who served with the Special Forces trooper, could barely conceal his rage as he described Mr Jenrick’s allegation as “simply not true”.
He faced calls to apologise and withdraw his claim. He has been accused of putting lives in danger after making the extraordinary allegation in a social media video.
Mr Tugendhat, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, made clear he was furious the video of his deceased friend had been used. BBC Newsnight presenter Victoria Derbyshire told him: “You sound quietly furious.”
Mr Tugendhat said: “How would you feel if a friend of yours who died a few years after the film was taken was being included in an accusation that would be – were he to be responsible for it, which let me be absolutely clear he would not and did not do – in an accusation that would be against the values and standards of the Armed Forces?”
Unfortunate sex act merchandise blunder
Robert Jenrick’s campaign spent the Tory Party Conference distributing hats featuring a very rude slogan – which appears to demand a sex act.
It all started when the Tory leadership front runner’s team decided to start calling him “Bobby J”. But it appears nobody at the campaign looked up the slang meaning of the term – which online swearing website Urban Dictionary say refers to a sex act.
Bragging about procuring asylum hotels
A clip of Mr Jenrick talking about procuring asylum hotels came back to haunt him when he defected to Reform.
During an interview in 2022, he told Sky News: “More hotels have been coming online almost every month throughout the whole of this year.
“Suella Braverman [the former home secretary] and her predecessor, Priti Patel, were procuring more hotels. What I have done in my short tenure is ramp that up and procure even more. Because November, historically, has been one of the highest months of the year for migrants illegally crossing the Channel.”
He went on to add: “I would never demonise people coming to this country in pursuit of a better life. And I understand and appreciate our obligation to refugees.”
Mr Farage posted a segment of the quote last year, writing: “Jenrick is a fraud. I’ve alway thought so, this quote proves it.”
Bungled purchase of contaminated prison for asylum accommodation
Mr Jenrick’s decision to waste millions of pounds buying a contaminated prison highlighted a “dysfunctional culture” of throwing money away, a scathing report said.
The debacle was one of a series of Tory errors that ended up costing taxpayers nearly £100million, cross-party MPs found. Mr Jenrick signed off on the purchase of former HMP Northeye for £15.4million to house asylum seekers after ignoring advice.
The massive sum was more than double what the sellers had paid for it a year earlier, and it needed more than £20million to be spent to bring it up to scratch. A damning dossier, drawn up by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said the case should serve as a warning on how not to do purchases.
It found that “unacceptable” sums were wasted when the Home Office tried to convince the public it was solving the asylum accommodation crisis. The department “rushed to spend public money”, but ended up with little to show for it after the spending spree, MPs found.