In a post from March 2015, Zahawi slams Farage as “offensive and racist” and says he would be “frightened” to live in a country run by him. After it was discovered Zahawi deleted the tweet.
Reform’s latest recruit, Nadhim Zahawi, has been left red faced after his old tweets in which he criticised Nigel Farage as “offensive and racist” resurfaced online.
Zahawi became the latest senior Tory to defect to Reform, saying that he felt the UK had reached a “dark and dangerous” moment, and the country needed “a glorious revolution”, as he outlined why he was joining Nigel Farage’s party.
However, the Tories say his defection is motivated purely by his own selfish interest, with party chairman Kevin Hollinrake saying that he defected after he was rebuffed for a peerage.
Zahawi was chancellor for two months under Boris Johnson and served as a minister from 2018 to 2023, making him the most senior former Tory to join Reform so far.
While he may have been full of praise for Farage at yesterday’s press conference, old tweets from Zahawi have resurfaced in which he criticised the Reform leader.
In a post from March 2015, Zahawi slams Farage as “offensive and racist” and says he would be “frightened” to live in a country run by him. After it was discovered Zahawi deleted the tweet.
When Zahawi was questioned about his old tweet at a press conference, he replied: “Good on you for digging out a tweet from 11 years ago.”
In another post from April 2015, in the build-up to the general election, Zahawi says Farage is “as establishment as they come.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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