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In a dimly lit French park, Robert Jenrick whispered to the camera, seeming more like an internet “migrant hunter” than a typical Conservative figure. Pointing towards a group he trailed from a migrant camp, the shadow justice secretary noted, “They are hiding just behind these trees here.”

Jenrick had been at the camp filming and talking to men planning to cross the English Channel, though he had to flee when they seemingly threw bottles at him. This video was part of his strategic social media efforts, as the 43-year-old who lost the Tory leadership to Kemi Badenoch the previous year refused to fade quietly into the shadow cabinet. He has made his mark by stirring controversy and amplifying anti-immigration sentiments akin to Nigel Farage’s Reform party, especially during the recent protests at hotels for asylum seekers.

Jenrick remains prominent among Tory members who are uncertain about Badenoch and anxious about the party’s declining poll numbers. “He’s making huge waves with his social media initiatives,” noted Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, adding that Jenrick is trying to show he should have been the choice over Badenoch. In August, his shadow cabinet ranking on the Conservative Home website showed him leading ahead of his peers. An editorial observed, “The shadow justice secretary’s popularity has become entrenched.”

As hotel protests grow, Jenrick’s political style is gaining traction, but some Conservative MPs worry he is pushing the party into potentially troublesome territory. A recent injunction required asylum seekers to vacate the Bell Hotel in Epping, a protest hotspot after an incident involving an asylum seeker accused of assaulting a teenager.

In response to the uproar, Jenrick, a father of three girls, penned a Mail on Sunday piece expressing he didn’t want his children near men from certain countries who entered the UK illegally and remained unfamiliar to the public. Despite criticisms, Jenrick rejects claims of navigating dangerous topics. He secured an apology from the BBC after a radio segment implied his article was “xenophobic.”

YouGov surveys reveal that over 70% of Britons now view migration levels as excessive, a notable rise from around 60% in 2020. However, many respondents significantly overestimate the prevalence of “illegal” immigration. Although small boat crossings have hit unprecedented numbers, they still represent a minimal portion of the total immigration figures.

Jenrick’s ability to seize the moment has helped turn him into a once unlikely radical. Former minister Michael Gove once warned that his great weakness was looking like “a typical Tory politician”. Early in his political career he was broadly viewed as a pudgy “Tory boy” with largely centre-right views. But he has become the one person who appears rejuvenated by the Conservative’s loss of power.

Slimmed down thanks to a combination of weight training, running and Ozempic, which helped him ditch his much-loved Chinese takeaways, his cheekbones are now as sharp as some of his more controversial views. Allies say that while his populist push is getting Conservatives some badly needed headlines, what Jenrick really wants is a full-scale transformation of the British state after his time in government, including as immigration minister, left him deeply disillusioned. “He was radicalised by seeing the state up close, trying to pull levers that weren’t there,” one ally said. “Basic things were impossible. He realised it was totally broken.”

People close to him say his views also shifted around the time of October 7 2023, when pro-Palestinian protests erupted in UK cities even before Israel launched its devastating response to the massacre that day. “Seeing such open support for Hamas and the Houthis and an outpouring of anti-British and antisemitic sentiment really hit home,” one ally says. “It didn’t feel anything like the Britain he grew up in.” Jenrick has taken to talking up his everyman roots in order to broaden his public appeal, pointing out that before marrying his wife, Michal Berkner — an Israeli-born, American-raised corporate lawyer who is now a British citizen — he was not particularly wealthy.

He grew up in a lower-middle class family in Wolverhampton, where he and his sister were the first in their family to go to university. His 85-year-old father still runs the fireplace fitting business he founded, and Jenrick wants a pro entrepreneurial society to help break the UK out of its economic torpor. “The battleground now isn’t simply left versus right: it’s tinkerers like Starmer versus those who think we need radical change,” the Jenrick ally said.

Supporters also argue that his politics on immigration centre not on race but fairness, pointing out that he fought to resettle Afghan interpreters who worked with the British army. His use of social media has helped him reach a broad audience, including across the Atlantic. He sat down with JD Vance during the US vice-president’s recent visit to the Cotswolds.

Allies claim even Labour rivals have congratulated him on his recent viral tube fare dodging video, in which he confronted people who pushed through the barriers on the London underground. Shadow cabinet colleagues have started to copy him. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, released his own video of a visit to a French migrant camp last week.

It is not yet clear whether this will be enough to help the Conservatives stave off the existential crisis posed by Reform. There was once talk that Jenrick might be a bridge between the two parties to “unite the right” although allies point out he’s a Tory through and through. He gave one of his daughters the middle name “Thatcher”. Farage has said Jenrick might end up to the right of him on immigration by the next general election.

On Wednesday, Jenrick was out hanging British flags from lampposts, lending his support to a viral online trend designed to expose councils’ alleged “two-tier” approach to patriotism. “While Britain-hating councils take down our own flags”, Jenrick posted on X, “we raise them up”.

david.sheppard@ft.com, jennifer.williams@ft.com

This article has been amended after publication to correct the spelling of Chris Philp’s name