Nadhim Zahawi once said he would be 'frightened' to live in a Farage-led Britain

Independent.co reports that on Monday Nadhim Zahawi, the former Tory chancellor who defected to Reform UK, previously said he would be "frightened" to live in a country run by Nigel Farage.

Zahawi became the highest-profile politician to join Reform and said Britain "really does need Nigel Farage as prime minister." Social media posts from 2015 show him responding to Farage's comment about scrapping race-discrimination law with: "I’m not British Born Mr @Nigel_Farage I am as British as u r. Yr comments r offensive&racist. I wld b frightened 2live in country run by U." The record also includes a 2014 comment calling Farage "establishment as they come" and a 2015 Conservative Home piece warning that in "Farage’s Britain" people like Zahawi could face lawful discrimination.

Conservative critics described Zahawi as a "has-been" seeking a "gravy train of defection" and said his past comments show the "level of loyalty for sale." At the press conference announcing his defection, Zahawi laughed off the tweets, saying: "Good on you for digging out tweets from 11 years ago." Green Party MP Ellie Chowns highlighted his earlier warning, asking if this was the same Zahawi who called Farage's comments "offensive and racist" and said he would be "frightened to live in a country run by you."

Key Topics

Politics, Nadhim Zahawi, Nigel Farage, Reform Uk, Conservative Party, Ellie Chowns