Former Tory candidate suspended over contract killer claims was adviser in Kemi Badenoch’s office

A former Conservative election candidate who was suspended after he was filmed discussing the cost of hiring contract killers worked as a consultant in Kemi Badenoch’s office as recently as last year.

Jack Ross is facing an investigation by the Tories after he was filmed apparently asking an undercover reporter: “What do you want done?” and apparently offering to “broker” the services of an alleged far-right paramilitary group.

Police in Scotland say they will be reviewing an Al Jazeera documentary in which Ross was filmed making a range comments about what a contract killer could be employed to do, and talked about using far-right groups to create disruption on the streets.

It has now emerged that he was working in 2025 in the leader of the opposition’s office, which can draw on taxpayer funds to pay staff. By that point, Ross was CEO of Turning Point UK, which was already involving itself in anti-migrant street protests, and listed its chief operating officer as Nick Tenconi, the leader of Ukip.

Sources close to Badenoch said Ross was contracted as a junior social media external consultant in her office. However, a Tory staffer familiar with the role of Ross at that time said: “Jack would come and go in the office and a few people raised their eyebrows, but it was brushed under the carpet because he got the party clicks on socials.

“He would have been in the same room as Kemi and she would have been aware of him. Some MPs were uncomfortable about it, but senior figures were clear that social media clicks were more important.”

Ross was reported by Al Jazeera to have introduced an undercover reporter to a violent criminal from Glasgow with links to the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force, who offered to have people killed for money.

Al Jazeera approached Ross with a fictitious family problem where a deceased uncle’s business was at risk of being taken over by a gang, whose members were supposedly warned they would “get fucked” if anything happened.

Ross replied to this saying: “Yeah, you have to deliver on that as well. You’ve got to explain to me what’s needed … I can then go and broker from there. But I’ve got to say, even to myself … if there’s lashback I’ve got to keep my name out of it.”

On another occasion, Ross was filmed apparently asking an undercover reporter “What do you want done?” before listing the type of violent options that could be bought.

Ross appeared to tell the Al Jazeera journalist: “They can just kick the fuck out of someone. That’s a certain amount. They can start cutting people’s faces up, that’s another amount. And they can stab someone. They can shoot someone. They can kill someone.”

Ross, who stood unsuccessfully as a Conservative local election candidate, became CEO of Turning Point UK (TPUK) in 2021, the British offshoot of the US campaign group established by the late rightwing American activist Charlie Kirk. Ross became a fixture of the British rightwing scene, appearing regularly on GB News and joining the conservative thinktank the Bow Group.

TPUK was intended to be a campus-based offshoot of the US group and initially endorsed by leading Tory figures such as Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg. Early members included younger rightwingers such as Tom Harwood, who went on to become a GB News anchor.

However, it began reinventing itself as a street-protest group after the addition of Tenconi, who has worked closely with Ross, as its COO. Tenconi, as leader of Ukip, has been at the forefont of leading immigration protests in recent years, blending anti-migrant rhetoric with Christian nationalism.

Footage released by TPUK last year showed Ross and others from the group meeting Badenoch after Kirk’s death

TPUK has not responded to the allegations but Tenconi staged a stunt outside King’s College London on Thursday in an imitation of the campus-based events held by Kirk. A gazebo with TPUK branding was surrounded by students and protesters chanting in opposition.

Al Jazeera filmed Tenconi in the company of Ross in 2022 as they discussed the formation of a “new right” which would include the engagement of far-right activists who could cause disruption on the streets, as well as what Tenconi described as the “winning over” of sympathetic MPs.

A Tory spokesperson said: “Mr Ross’s membership of the Conservative party has been suspended with immediate effect pending an investigation. We cannot comment further while the investigation is ongoing.”