Nadhim Zahawi failed in bid for peerage from Tories before Reform defection, sources say | Nadhim Zahawi

Nadhim Zahawi was rejected by the Conservatives for a nobility application just weeks before Reformation joined the UK, Conservative sources have told the Guardian.

The former chancellor sought a seat in the House of Lords from Kemi Badenoch’s senior team but was rejected as he is being ousted as Tory leader in 2022 over his tax affairs.

On Monday, Zahawi was announced as Reform’s newest member and the most senior former Conservative Party member to join it; Britain is on the brink of “civil unrest” and only a government led by Nigel Farage can prevent it, the former MP has claimed.

But both men faced awkward questions at a press conference, where Zahawai was asked about Farage’s claim that he had made “offensive and racist” comments about him.

The Conservatives also revealed that Zahawi, who held a series of ministerial posts under Boris Johnson, was in contact with senior figures in the party until the end of last year.

“Nadhim requested the nobility several times. Given that she was dismissed for dodgy tax dealings, it was never going to happen,” a Conservative source said. “His departure tells you everything you need to know about the Reformation being a repository of disgraced politicians.”

Conservatives said the politician contacted them and not the other way around. They noted that Badenoch joined Reform just weeks after it announced the latest political honors list in which he was not included.

“Even if it wasn’t rudely rejected by us, it will never be our precedent,” the source added. “His departure came at a time when it was clear he wasn’t going to get one.”

Appearing on stage with Farage in London, the former chancellor said he allowed his Tory membership to lapse in December before deciding to join Reformation, saying he did so because the UK needed a “glorious revolution”. He added that he had not been promised a specific role in the Reformation and would join as a “foot soldier”.

Zahawi, who stood as MP for Stratford-on-Avon at the last election, was sacked as Conservative party chairman by Rishi Sunak in 2023 after he was found to have breached the ministerial code by not announcing an HMRC investigation into his tax affairs.

Zahawi expressed concerns about threats to freedom of expression, the imposition of high taxes and what he sees as “big government”. Reform’s treasurer and personal friend Nick Candy acted as a bridge and Farage said the party would turn to the former MP to help bring in new donations.

Zahawi said: “My analysis is that a major culprit is the overpowering bureaucratic inertia that now dominates and runs the country, taking control of large parts of the economy and restricting the individual freedom of each of us, almost without a shrug.

“We can all see that our beautiful, ancient, gentle, magical island story has reached a dark and dangerous phase.”

But he has repeatedly been forced to defend Farage over allegations of racism and antisemitism, saying he would not sit next to him if he believed he had “a racist bone in his body”.

Thirty-four of Farage’s peers at school claimed they had seen him display racist or anti-Semitic behaviour, raising questions about the Reform leader’s evolving denials.

A now-deleted tweet Zahawi wrote in 2015 was also brought up: “I am not British-born, Mr Nigel_Farage. I am as British as you. Your comments are offensive and racist. I would be afraid to live in a country run by the US.”

Asked about the tweet on Monday, Zahawi said: “If I thought that this man sitting next to me had any problems with people of my color or my background who came to this country, integrated, assimilated, are proud of this country, worked hard in this country, paid millions of pounds in taxes in this country, invested in the country, I would not be sitting next to him.”

The tweet is understood to be a response to a broadcast interview in 2015 in which Farage was asked whether he was in favor of enforcing laws banning employment discrimination on the basis of race or colour. Farage replied “no”, but later claimed he had been “deliberately misrepresented”.

Zahawi too wrote a piece The headline for the ConservativeHome website at the time read: “In Farage’s Britain, it would be legal to discriminate against me on the basis of race.”

The reform leader said Zahawi’s arrival would help strengthen the party’s reputation as a serious challenger for the government, adding: “Our weakness is that we have no front-line experience. People like Nadhim have been on the inside. They know how the government works or how the government does not work.”

Following the announcement of his departure, Zahawi’s former party described him as the last of “old politicians looking for the next gravy train”.

“Their last hire said they would be terrified of living in a country run by Nigel Farage, which shows the level of loyalty to the sale,” a Tory spokesman added. “Reform wants higher welfare spending and higher taxes. “They are a one-man gang with no plan for our country.”

Labor leader Anna Turley said of the departure: “This confirms what we already knew: Reform has nothing to be ashamed of in the UK. “Nadhim Zahawi is a discredited and disgraced politician who will forever be linked to the Conservatives’ disgraceful record of failure in government.

“Zahawi himself has previously repeatedly criticized his new boss for his divisive and extreme rhetoric – and Farage has said Zahawi has no principles and is only interested in climbing the greasy pole.”