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latest Defected British reformer Nadhim ZahawiHe has previously said he would be “scared” to live in a country made up of Nigel Farage.
The controversial former Conservative chancellor became the most high-profile politician to defect on Monday. reforminsisting that Britain “We really need Nigel Farage as Prime Minister“.
But within minutes, conflicting statements Zahavi had previously made about the reformist leader on social media began to emerge.
In 2015, Mr Farage said he would “repeal” much of the UK’s legislation on racial discrimination in the workplace, in response to which Mr Zahavi wrote on social media: “I am not British born Mr @Nigel_Farage, I am British like you and your comments are offensive and racist. I would be scared to live in a country run by the US.”
Responding to the defection, the Conservatives described Zahavi as the latest in a long line of “old politicians looking for the next defector”, adding that his past comments showed “loyalty that is for sale”.
“It seems Farage was right. Nadine Zahavi “Just trying to climb that greasy pole,” one Tory source told independent.
“Haunted by the ghost of his own irrelevance, Zahavi has jumped on the bandwagon. But his sudden, dramatic change will not be enough to revive his failing political career.”
The 2015 article was one of several previous statements Mr Zahavi has made targeting Britain’s reformist leaders.
In 2014, he referred to Mr Farage as “the establishment” while pointing to his record of running for political office multiple times.
A year later, he wrote on the Conservative Home website: “I was born in Baghdad but I am very proud to call myself British. My parents chose to make their home in the UK because it is a place where belonging lies in what you put in, not where you come from.
“The scary thing is that in Farage’s Britain, people like me could be legally discriminated against and British businesses would be encouraged to throw our resumes in the bin.”
Asked about his political allegiance in 2014, Mr Zahavi wrote on X (then Twitter): “I have been a Tory all my life and will die a Tory.”
Meanwhile, Mr Farage was caught criticizing his new party members for “climbing a greasy pole” when he is appointed prime minister in 2022.
At a press conference announcing Zahavi’s defection on Monday, the two were asked about their past exchanges on social media.
The former MP and minister, who also led the Conservative government’s vaccine program early in the pandemic, laughed off the posts and said: “How nice of you to dig up a tweet from 11 years ago.”
Greens MP Ellie Chowns also referred to Mr Zahawi’s previous concerns about Mr Farage, saying: “This is what Mr Zahawi said when he said about Nigel Farage, your comments are offensive and racist, would I be afraid to live in a country that you run? Indeed, it appears that is the case.”