Overview
- The former chancellor was unveiled alongside Nigel Farage at a Westminster press conference, saying “Britain needs Nigel Farage as prime minister.”
- Zahawi said he had been promised no role or seat, while Farage signaled his position will be outlined in the coming weeks and touted his fundraising prowess.
- He was sacked as Conservative Party chairman in 2023 over a ministerial‑code breach tied to his tax affairs and later paid nearly £5 million to HMRC.
- Describing the Conservatives as a “defunct brand,” Zahawi confirmed his Tory membership lapsed in December 2025 as he joined a broader wave of roughly twenty ex-Tories moving to Reform since 2024.
- The Conservatives condemned the switch as opportunistic, citing Zahawi’s deleted 2015 post calling Farage “offensive and racist,” while both men downplayed their past clashes.