Ex-Tory MP Nadhim Zahawi recently announced his defection to the Reform Party. However, comments from other politicians in the billionaire-funded far-right party suggest it might not be the win that Nigel Farage believes it to be.
Reform UK’s Leader of Durham Council @ReformDurham isn’t a @nadhimzahawi fan it appears…
This isn’t the coup @Nigel_Farage would have you think it is. pic.twitter.com/SMm58dSYq8
— Reform Party UK Exposed
(@reformexposed) January 12, 2026
Zahawi ‘another tax dodger’
Durham County Council leader Andrew Husband has responded to a post expressing dissatisfaction with Nadhim Zahawi’s controversial record as a Conservative MP. It would appear that figures within Reform UK are less than pleased about his recent defection. The original comment referenced Zahawi’s widely reported tax controversy, as well as his past accusations that Nigel Farage exhibits fascist tendencies.
These remarks appear to allude to comments Zahawi made on LBC in 2015, after reports that Farage had called for the removal of workplace protections against racial discrimination. Zahawi described Farage’s remarks as “deeply racist” and went so far as to say that “Goebbels would be proud“, explicitly linking Farage’s rhetoric to that of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
While tax controversies attract attention, some Reform UK members’ unease with Zahawi will likely also stem from his Iraqi origins. What else can be expected from a bunch of racists?
Nadhim Zahawi is the antithesis of individual and national sovereignty.
He presided over the destruction of the economy, pushed vaccine mandates, forced dangerous medical interventions onto children, babies and pregnant women, supported lockdowns that imprisoned people in their… pic.twitter.com/VbPYJSOLqm
— Mike Fairclough (@1MikeFairclough) January 14, 2026
We highlighted recently how Farage is currently facing the overt racism taking hold in Reform UK. This is a problem exacerbated by the party’s reckless pursuit of mass membership, which weaponises hate and anger against immigrants and people of colour more broadly.
It is clear that Husband supports the current hardline immigration policy, having reposted content backing the detention and deportation of “every single” illegal migrant:
The post below highlights what may be the real reason behind Tory defections, noting that Zahawi reportedly begged for a peerage but was denied by the Conservative Party. Ambition appears to be driving some of the most corrupt politicians toward Reform UK, which they see as their next route to power:
“It’s just leaving because you see which way the wind is blowing and think… ‘𝘐 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘢 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’.”
As Nadhim Zahawi defects to Reform UK, old tweets are resurfacing in which he says he says a Farage-led Britain would “frighten” him.@jonsopel | @lewis_goodall pic.twitter.com/lLX5eM7u23
— The News Agents (@TheNewsAgents) January 12, 2026
Careful what you wish for, Farage
It’s becoming clearer by the day that Reform UK are likely to see considerably more Tory MP defections. Farage will have a job on his hands to tend to Reform’s racist supporters whilst wrangling ex-Tory MPs more used to at least hiding their racist proclivities. But, we know Farage will do anything for any scrap of power.
An immoral trait that Zahawi clearly shares.
Featured image via the Canary
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