Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has revealed how he took weight-loss drug Ozempic ‘for a short period of time’ in a bid to shed the pounds.
The former immigration minister, who is bidding to replace Rishi Sunak, lost four stone in 12 months after realising he was ‘overweight’.
Mr Jenrick said Ozempic had been ‘helpful’ but he ‘didn’t particularly enjoy it’ and he has since ‘lost weight in the normal way by eating less… doing some exercise’.
The 42-year-old quit Mr Sunak’s government in December last year in a row over the Rwanda migration plan as he argued the former PM’s laws were not tough enough.
He today said he would revive the policy, which has been axed by the Labour Government, if he were to win the Tory leadership election.
Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick, pictured at the beginning of this month, has revealed how he took weight-loss drug Ozempic ‘for a short period of time’
The former immigration minister, pictured in July last year, has lost four stone in 12 months after realising he was ‘overweight’
Mr Jenrick is competing against Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat to become the next Conservative leader
Mr Jenrick was first elected to the House of Commons at the Newark by-election in June 2014
The former solicitor was appointed housing secretary in July 2019 when Boris Johnson became PM
Ozempic was designed to treat type 2 diabetes but has gained attention as a weight-loss drug among a number of celebrities.
These include Rebel Wilson, Sharon Osbourne, Stephen Fry and Elon Musk.
But there have been warnings of serious side effects to the drug, as well as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Speaking to Politico about his own use of Ozempic, Mr Jenrick said:Â ‘To be honest, I was overweight.
‘I took Ozempic for a short period of time, didn’t particularly enjoy it, but it was helpful.
‘Since then I’ve just lost weight in the normal way by eating less, eating more healthily, doing some exercise – going to the gym, going running.
‘I’ve lost four stone in 12 months.’
The website reported that Mr Jenrick took Ozempic for six weeks in the autumn of last year.
Mr Jenrick is competing against Kemi Badenoch, James Cleverly, Priti Patel, Mel Stride and Tom Tugendhat to become the next Conservative leader.
He has positioned himself on the Right of the party in recent months and has attracted the support of many of those who previously backed ex-home secretary Suella Braverman.
In an interview with LBC radio this morning, Mr Jenrick attacked Labour’s new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper as ‘too squeamish’ to tackle the Channel migrant crisis.
‘Because she is too squeamish to have an effective deterrent, she’s abandoned the Rwanda scheme before she has come up with any credible alternative,’ he said.
He confirmed he would bring back the Tories’ Rwanda policy, which would have seen asylum seekers sent to the African country, if he won the leadership election.
‘Yes I would, I want a stronger version of the Rwanda plan, that’s what I proposed at the turn of the year,’ Mr Jenrick added.
‘One which would enable us to detain people upon arrival and then remove them within hours or days, rather than weeks or months.
‘I believe that’s possible – it would have been possible if the government at the time had accepted the amendments I put down with around 60 other Conservative MPs.’
