Several tweets from Nadhim Zahawi have resurfaced following the former Tory chancellor’s defection to Reform UK.
At a press conference on Monday, Zahawi’s defection was announced by Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Zahawi was the last chancellor under Boris Johnson’s premiership, and served in Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak’s governments as well.
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Now, he’s the latest ex-Tory to swap one shade of blue for another.
But in the wake of his defection, a number of old tweets from the former Conservative minister have emerged, in which he is critical of Nigel Farage.
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.
Zahawi seems to have deleted this tweet though, something that didn’t go unnoticed.
When this tweet was put to Zahawi at his defection press conference, he curtly replied: “Good on you for digging out a tweet from 11 years ago.”
He continued: “If I thought this man [Farage] in any way had an issue with people of my colour or my background who have come to this country, who have integrated, assimilated and are proud of this country then I wouldn’t be sitting next to him
In one post from September 2014 replying to a since-deleted tweet, Zahawi says there is “no chance” he would join UKIP, adding: “Been a Conservative all my life and will die a Conservative.”
Another tweet from April 2015, in the build-up to the general election, Zahawi says Farage is “as establishment as they come.”
Another politician of principle then!