In old social media posts, Zahawi said he would be afraid to live in the UK if Farage was prime minister
Former Tory chair, Nadhim Zahawi, who was sacked by Rishi Sunak following a probe into his taxes, has defected to Nigel Farage’s party.
Zahawi was fired from his position as chair of the Conservative Party, after he failed to disclose that he was under investigation by HMRC for not paying the right amount of tax on £27 million in income.
He later had to pay HMRC almost £5 million to settle his tax affairs.
Unearthed posts on social media have revealed that Zahawi didn’t always have positive things to say about Nigel Farage.
In 2015, Zahawi posted a tweet saying: “I’m not British-born, Mr Farage, I’m as British as you are. Your comments are offensive and racist. I would be frightened to live in a country run by you.”
Asked about this old tweet at a press conference this morning, Zahawi responded: “If I thought this man sitting next to me had in any way an issue with people of my colour or my background […] I wouldn’t be sitting next to him.”
In another post from 2015, Zahawi wrote: “Farage has run for political office SIX times and been an MEP for FIFTEEN yrs – he’s as establishment as they come.”
Farage has also made some scathing comments about Zahawi in the past. When Zahawi became chancellor in 2022, Farage said “all he is interested in is climbing that greasy pole”.
Responding to the news of Zahawi’s defection on X, the Labour Party wrote: “Nadhim Zahawi was sacked following a probe into his taxes and will forever be tied to the Tories’ record of failure in government. Reform have no shame.”
Zahawi is the 22nd former Tory MP to defect to Reform UK.
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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