STORY
Former Conservative chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has defected to Reform UK, giving Nigel Farage his highest-profile recruit so far and landing another blow on the Conservatives as they try to steady themselves after last year’s election.
Zahawi announced the defection today at a press conference in central London alongside Farage, casting the country’s direction in stark terms and arguing that Reform’s leadership team is now the best route to change. Zahawi said that he hadn’t been promised a role within Reform and had defected as he said that the “UK was sick.”
A former MP for Stratford-on-Avon, Zahawi rose quickly through ministerial ranks and became a prominent public figure during the pandemic as vaccines minister before serving briefly as Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2022. He later became Conservative Party chair but was sacked in 2023 after an investigation found he had breached the ministerial code in relation to his tax affairs.
The defection is politically awkward for Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, with Reform seeking to present itself as the natural home for disillusioned Tory voters and figures from the Johnson-era wing of the party. Farage, for his part, used Zahawi’s switch to reinforce the argument that Reform is broadening beyond a single-person vehicle and is increasingly able to attract established political names.