“At the bars it was obviously the central topic of conversation, but I don’t think anyone predicted that this morning Orr and Jukes would resign,” the second business dinner attendee said. “The assumption was they would try and brush off and basically fight back, say it’s a hoax etc.”
By breakfast there was clarity. Ed Sumner, now indisputably Farage’s most senior communications adviser, spent his birthday morning confirming Jukes and Orr had “stepped down” pending an internal investigation.
“The party believes it is important that the investigation is allowed to proceed independently and without prejudice. No further comment will be made while the investigation is ongoing,” read a statement.
What prompted the about-turn was unclear, but one senior adviser said Jukes is a “rational thinker,” adding: “When the time was up, he knew the time was up.”
The fightback
After the defiance over late-night drinks at the Sky Bar, talk of a fightback came at Friday morning’s breakfast buffet. Reform remains neck-and-neck with the governing Labour Party in the polls, and had intended to use Friday to show their readiness for government.
“No way is our conference going to get derailed by some stupid posh boy and a Channel 4 investigation,” fumed one of Reform’s gruffer, high-profile champions.