Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has defected to Reform UK, becoming the highest-ranking former Conservative figure to join Nigel Farage’s party.
Zahawi, 58, was introduced alongside Farage at a news conference in London where he warned that Britain was “drinking in the last chance saloon” and said the country “really needs Nigel Farage as prime minister”.
In a video message announcing his move, the former vaccines minister and chancellor said: “Nothing is working, there is no growth, there is crime on our streets and there is an avalanche of illegal migration that would cause a national emergency anywhere in the world. I have decided that the team that will deliver for this nation is the team that Nigel will put together.”
For Zahawi, who once insisted there was “no chance” he would ever join Farage, the defection marks a dramatic political shift. Writing in 2014, he said he had “been a conservative all my life and will die a conservative.” A year later, he warned that Farage’s policies could discriminate against foreign-born British citizens.
Zahawi’s political career at Westminster spanned more than a decade. He was elected Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon in 2010 and held a number of senior cabinet positions under four prime ministers until his rise to chancellor in 2022. He resigned as an MP at the last general election after being forced out of government over a dispute over his tax affairs.
Zahawi was born in Iraq and came to Britain as a child refugee in the 1970s after fleeing the regime of Saddam Hussein. He has previously spoken about sitting at the back of a classroom at the age of 11 and not being able to speak English. He later co-founded the polling firm YouGov and built a significant personal fortune, including a large real estate portfolio.
His move gives further impetus to Reform UK’s efforts to present itself as a credible national political force rather than a single movement. Farage said Zahawi’s defection helped dispel claims that Reform was a “one-man gang”.
Zahawi follows a growing list of former Conservative MPs who have joined Reform, including Nadine Dorries, Andrea Jenkyns and Lee Anderson, reflecting increasing fissures on the right side of British politics.
The Conservatives rejected the move, with a party spokesman describing Reform as “the party of former politicians looking for their next gravy train.” The spokesman added that Zahawi had previously said he was “scared” of living in a country ruled by Farage and questioned the consistency of his views.
Despite this criticism, Zahawi insisted that his support for the reform reflected the seriousness of the situation. “Even if you don’t yet see that Britain needs reform,” he said, “you know in your heart that our wonderful country is sick.”
