Nadhim Zahawi, the former Conservative chancellor, has become the most senior Tory MP to defect to Reform UK, announced by party leader Nigel Farage on Monday. The move brings ministerial experience to a party that has struggled to project itself as a credible government-in-waiting, but it also raises questions about whether Reform risks becoming simply a rebranded Conservative Party.
Zahawi served as chancellor in the dying days of Boris Johnson's government in 2022, appointed after Rishi Sunak resigned. He later called for Johnson to go but stopped short of resigning himself, a decision that saw him branded an opportunist by colleagues. Farage, at the time, remarked that it showed all Zahawi cared about was "climbing that greasy pole".
Reform has sought to bolster its credibility by recruiting former Tory ministers, with more defections rumoured. However, critics argue that packing the ranks with ex-Tories could backfire, making the insurgent party indistinguishable from the one voters just booted out. Reform's chairman, Zia Yusuf, has already warned that "washed up" former MPs will not be prioritised for parliamentary selection.
The Tories hit back by suggesting Zahawi had recently begged for a peerage but was refused. Zahawi, who once said he would "die a Conservative", dismissed his former party as a "defunct brand" and said he had been given no promises about a role in Reform. He also pointed to defections by Lee Anderson and Danny Kruger as evidence of the Tory decline.
Yet the fear of a mass exodus has subsided. Reform's poll lead has narrowed, and YouGov data shows Farage losing to Keir Starmer, Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey in head-to-head matchups. Meanwhile, Tory leader Badenoch appears to be slowly steadying the ship, with an election years away and defectors willing to wait.
Zahawi's move is not without risk for Reform. He was sacked as Tory party chair in 2023 over a failure to be transparent about a £5m settlement with HMRC for unpaid taxes. His past business dealings in the Middle East and tax havens are likely to come under renewed scrutiny as he joins a party promising to clean up politics.
