Reform’s Nadhim Zahawi once said he would be ‘frightened’ to live in country run by Nigel Farage
Nadhim Zahawi, the latest person to leave Reform Britain, has previously said he would be “terrified” of living in a country run by Nigel Farage.
The controversial former Tory chancellor became the most high-profile politician to defect to Reform on Monday, insisting Britain “really needs Nigel Farage as prime minister”.
But within minutes, contradictory statements Mr Zahawi had made about Mr Farage on social media in previous years were revealed.
Responding to Mr Farage’s call in 2015 to eliminate most racial discrimination in the UK’s workplace legislation, Mr Zahawi wrote on social media: “I am not British born Mr @Nigel_Farage, I am as British as you are. Your comments are offensive and racist. I would be terrified of living in a country run by the US.”
In response to the defection, the Conservatives described Mr Zahawi as “the last of the old politicians looking for the next defection train”, adding that his past comments “show a level of loyalty for sale”.
“Farage appears to be right when he says Nadhim Zahawi is ‘about to climb that greasy pole’,” a Conservative source said. Independent.
“Haunted by the specter of his own apathy, Zahawi has jumped on the gravy train. But his sudden and dramatic change of heart will not be enough to revive his failing political career.”
The 2015 post is one of many comments Mr Zahawi has previously made about the Reform UK leader.
Stating that he had run for political office on several occasions, he labeled Mr Farage in 2014 as “as establishment as they come”.
A year later he wrote in Conservative Home: “I was born in Baghdad but I’m very proud to call myself British. My parents chose to make Britain their home because it was a place where belonging was about what you’d endured rather than where you came from.”
“The scary thing is that in Farage’s Britain, people like me may be legally discriminated against and British businesses will be encouraged to throw our CVs in the bin.”
Asked about his political allegiance in 2014, he wrote on X (later on Twitter): “I’ve been a Conservative all my life and I’ll die a Conservative.”
Meanwhile, Mr Farage was revealed to have criticized the new party member for “climbing the greasy pole” when he is appointed chancellor in 2022.
At a press conference announcing Mr Zahawi’s departure on Monday, the two men were asked about their past conversations on social media.
The former MP and minister, who also managed the Conservative government’s vaccination program in the early days of the pandemic, laughed at the posts and said: “It’s good that you uncovered the tweets from 11 years ago.”
Green MP Ellie Chowns also echoed Mr Zahawi’s previous concerns about Mr Farage, saying: “Is this the same thing Mr Zahawi said about Nigel Farage, saying your comments were offensive and racist and that I would be afraid to live in a country run by you? It seems that way indeed.”
