Does Robert Jenrick already have his eye on Reform's top job?

Does Robert Jenrick – who joined Reform UK after never accepting the result of the 2024 Conservative leadership election – already have his eye on replacing Nigel Farage at the top of his new tribe?

Farage has faced some rare media scrutiny over the past week, with even normally friendly outlets asking awkward questions about his decision to accept what he calls “an unconditional gift” of £5 million from Christopher Harborne, a Thai-based cryptocurrency billionaire who also goes by the name of Chakrit Sakunkrit.

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The Reform leader has dealt with the grilling in his usual manner – awkwardly chuckling before resorting to raising his voice at his interlocutor. He told BBC Breakfast’s Sally Nugent that the donation was none of her business, Today’s Nick Robinson that he might consider paying it back if Robinson gave his own salary to charity and even snapped at Talk’s Julia Hartley-Brewer that “I can spend it on Ferraris if I want to”.

One man does think the questions are legitimate, though – Reform’s absurdly-titled ‘shadow chancellor’ and the man no-one thought was joining the party to play second fiddle long-term: Bobby J.

At the British Chambers of Commerce annual conference on Thursday, asked by the host, Sophy Ridge, whether Farage was right to say people did not care about it, Jenrick said: “I’ve knocked on a lot of doors, trust me, in the course of the May local elections, the [Makerfield] by-election, and in my own constituency, and I have to say, in all sincerity, not a single person has raised that question with me.

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“It doesn’t mean that it’s not a legitimate question for the media to ask, but it is not one that, in my experience, is on the tip of the tongue of people across the country.”

The official Reform line, of course – and one that Farage’s deputy, the ever-loyal Richard Tice, has stuck to – is that it is very much not a legitimate question for the media to ask. As Farage told Hartley-Brewer, this week, it is “none of your business”.

Jenrick may feel he is tapping into something within the party, many of whom are said to have seen Farage’s mysterious wealth as a factor in Reform’s loss in Makerfield. If so, he’d better acquaint himself with Reform’s rulebook: in the event Farage did step down as leader for whatever reason, his successor will be elected by one member, one vote – and that one member is very specifically a Mr NP Farage.