Overview
- Zahawi announced his switch in a video, saying Britain is drinking at the last chance saloon and that it really does need Nigel Farage as prime minister.
- Nigel Farage presented the former chancellor at a press conference in London on Monday.
- Zahawi previously served as vaccines minister during the Covid rollout and briefly as chancellor before stepping down as Stratford-on-Avon MP at the last election.
- An HMRC investigation into his tax affairs led to his removal as Conservative Party chairman by then prime minister Rishi Sunak.
- He follows former Conservatives including Nadine Dorries, Sir Jake Berry, Dame Andrea Jenkyns and David Jones, with Farage arguing the influx shows Reform UK is not a one‑man band.