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PM Johnson’s Former Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi Defects to Farage’s Reform Party
- A Radical Dispatch
1) Vaccines Minister Zahawi Joins Reform
The minister responsible for the implementation of mandated ‘vaccines’ under Boris Jonson’s Covid-era government, Nadhim Zahawi has defected from the Conservative party to join Nigel Farage’s vaccine-skeptic Reform party.
Zahawi is an Iraqi-born migrant to Britain. He was also once the Chancellor of the Exchequer under PM Johnson, and Chairman of the Conservatives. As such, this is a senior defection and a win for the notion that Nigel Farage will soon become Prime Minister of Britain.
The two men held a press conference in London announcing the move.
Click to play:
Nadhim Zahawi: “I’m here to tell you all, and of course the British people, that Britain needs reform. Britain needs Nigel Farage as Prime Minister. I know this may come as a surprise to my old party and to many Westminster watchers, but it really shouldn’t. And it certainly won’t come as a shock to the tens of millions of hard-working, patriotic, decent people up and down our wonderful United Kingdom, from the highlands of Scotland to the bottom of Cornwall, from rural Wales to the beating heart of London. We can all see that our beautiful, ancient, kind, magical island story has reached a dark and dangerous chapter. Things may feel like they’re ticking along just fine within a few square miles of where we stand today. I’m here today to tell you all, and of course the British people, that Britain needs reform.”
And Zahawi had prepared a video explaining his reasoning.
Click to play:
Nadhim Zahawi: “I was born in Baghdad. My memoirs are called ‘The Boy From Baghdad’. We came to these shores in 1979. I was 11 years old we came with nothing other than hope and determination, but also knowing that this nation was the most civilised nation on earth. But my friends today Britain is broken. And I’m convinced that Britain needs reform. Nothing works. There is no growth. There is crime on our streets. And there is an avalanche of illegal migration that in anywhere else in the world will be a national emergency. Nigel recognises it’s a national emergency. And I think in many ways we need to act in the same way as we did in delivering the vaccine program.
This room, this table, became my office during the pandemic and I broadcast to the nation. These curtains behind me became quite famous on social media because I literally had to go on almost nightly just to reassure the nation that we have the team, we have the focus, and that we will deliver. I founded what I think is one of the greatest information businesses in the world, in YouGov.
We all have to, at some stage, look in the mirror and decide what’s best for our country. I’ve gone from Councillor to Chancellor of the Exchequer to make this move, but I’m convinced it’s the right move. Why? Because I think Britain is drinking in the last chance saloon and it really does need Nigel Farage as Prime Minister. And the one thing that I’ve been impressed by with Nigel is, I’ve seen politicians come and go, and some are motivated and driven by just getting to the seat of power get to Number 10. That is not Nigel. I have seen him operate with world leaders. When he needs to push back, he pushes back. He listens to allies, and works with them and has that gravitas and respect. And I’ve made my mind up that the team that will deliver for this nation will be the team that Nigel will put together. And that’s why I’ve decided that I’m joining Reform.”
News of Zahawi’s defection came as a shock to many since he had previously decried Farage as a “racist”, using precisely the kind of logic that so riled a disaffected base to rally behind Farage in the first instance.
Click to play:
Journalist: “Nadhime Zahawi, a few years ago you tweeted: ‘I’m not British-born, Mr Nigel Farage. I am as British as you are. Your comments are offensive and racist. I would be frightened to live in a country run by you’. Why the change of heart? And this was 2015.”
Nigel Farage: “Oh, quite recently then, thank you.”
Journalist: “Well, just asking about the change of heart and also...on Iran, Mr Farage, would you support Britain potentially supporting US military involvement in Iran and also us possibly prescribing the IRGC? Thank you.”
Nigel Farage: “We should have prescribed the IRGC years ago, just as we should have prescribed the Muslim Brotherhood years ago. And I’ve been saying those things clearly and consistently for many, many years. And I’ve reiterated them in recent times. I cannot believe...the stupidity of Obama, the European Union, the British Foreign Office, and some of your former colleagues who went along in 2015 with this JCPOA deal. It’s been a disaster. It’s freed up tens of billions of dollars for the Iranians. What have they used it for? They’ve used it to fund the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas. These are massive self-inflicted wounds. And so I’ve always felt vehemently opposed to this. We went for regime change against Saddam. We went for regime change against Gaddafi. The regime change we’ve always needed is in Iran, where the wonderful Persian people with all their amazing talents have been kept in this theocratic, brutal regime. I very much hope President Trump acts in the next few days. We don’t know how many have been killed. It could be perhaps as many as 2,000, I’m told, before coming to this press conference. So would I support military action against the IRGC, the Revolutionary Guard, on the ground in Iran, so that the good guys can win this revolution? Absolutely, 100%.”
Nadhim Zahawi: “Catherine, good on you for digging out a tweet from 11 years ago. But all I would say to you is, if I thought this man sitting next to me was in any way, had an issue with people of my colour, or my background, who have come to this country, who have integrated, assimilated, proud of this country, worked hard for this country, paid millions of pounds in taxes in this country, invested in the country, I wouldn’t be sitting next to him. And I think he wouldn’t be sitting next to me either.”
More positively, being of Iraqi-Kurdish descent, the additional question above that was posed about the Iranian theocracy is something that Zahawi will be able to grasp intuitively.
The Times reports 13th January 2026:
Hence, and on national security matters, there is less concern that Zahawi understands the dangers of the Islamist ideology. This much, at least, fits the Reform base.
2) The Backlash
It is, though, reference made to ‘vaccines’ in his own video and elsewhere by the man who delivered them to the nation, that irked much of Farage’s online base after this defection.
Many online populist-right commentators expressed dismay that Zahawi would dilute the Reform brand, instead symbolising a blurring of the lines between the old rejected Tories, and the new Reform, asking: how many Tories is too many?
Among those who has taken to regularly undermining Farage and Reform from the right is one of Farage’s own former MPs, Rupert Lowe.
Online populist-right commentator Dan Wooten also took umbrage at Zahawi being a Muslim, among other things.
Joining them were a slew of anti-Covid campaigners such as the online news network UNN, who were primarily - and understandably - upset at Zahawi’s ‘vaccine’ track record.
Perhaps the most persistently negative online commentator, David Icke went further by claiming that Farage is merely window dressing for the same globalists he opposes.
Such rhetoric was repeated by Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, stagename: ‘Tommy Robinson’.
It appears that the backlash from their own base was serious enough that party chairman David Bull had to go on air to address concerns raised by some listeners who had decided that Muslim Britons were no longer to be considered British.
Click to play:
Broadcaster: “Michael or Nadine, good morning.”
Caller: “Good morning, Jez. Great show. It’s Michael from Corby here. Just dropping a note in on the point of Tories defecting to Reform. Reform was supposed to be a party of British people, for the British people, putting our needs first they’ve imported every Muslim from the Tory party, whose only interest is the Muslim community. Therefore, Reform will be no better than the Tories or Labour and they won’t get my vote. We need a party that’s going to put British people first for once. Have a great one mate, thank you.”
David Bull: “Can I just make the point: they are British. So, Zia is British. Leila is British. Nadhim is British. So I don’t buy that in any sense. Look, the whole point is that anyone who comes to our party has to subscribe to our values. If they don’t believe, and if they’re not on the same page as me and Nigel and the rest of us, then they are not welcome in the party. And it’s simple as that.”
Yesterday’s events prove one thing that hardened ideologues seem always to forget: if the aim is to win power and make change, then elections are won from the centre ground.
3) Farage Opposed Zahawi When It Mattered
Critics though, who are pitching Farage as a man with few principles after welcoming Zahawi from the Tories, will not get that far.
Many seem to have overlooked the fact that Farage opposed Zahawi when it actually mattered, when Zahawi was serving as the Tory Chancellor in 2023.
Click to play:
Nigel Farage: “I’ve been saying all week that Zahawi would be fired, and sure enough, 9 o’clock Sunday morning, finally Sunak does it. Doesn’t say much about Zahawi’s affairs, I mean hey, you know, if you’re Chancellor of the Exchequer and you have to pay money to the tax man it’s not a good look, but it says even more about Sunak’s leadership. The man… I’m gonna tell you, he is not a leader. Not that I think actually Keir Starmer is either. One thing is for certain, the Tories are not fit to govern. This episode proves that.”
Journalists reminding Farage of his previous criticism of Zahawi only reinforced the point.
Click to play:
Journalist: “In 2022, when Nadeem Zahawi was appointed chancellor, you said, I thought Zahawi had principles, but tonight we learned all he’s interested in is climbing that greasy pole. Are you now greasing that pole for your new body?”
Nigel Farage: “Well, if you see, if you look at the clip, you will see that I profess to be a fan…I very publicly said I’m a big supporter of this guy, and I...actually I mean there was a period of time when I thought, you know, perhaps, perhaps, if he became the leader of the Conservative party things might start to look a little different. So I was a fan, openly publicly professed fan…I was disappointed that he decided to join what I saw as a failing government at that moment in time, but I’ve always been a fan of his in 2022”
In the long run, Zahawi’s defection may well prove less damaging to Reform, and more damaging to the Tories.
Even when the ‘vaccines’ topic was raised, it backfired.
Click to play:
Journalist: “As a former vaccines minister how do you feel about Reform giving a platform to a vaccine conspiracy theorist at their conference this year.”
Nigel Farage: “We believe in free speech. We gave a platform to somebody who was nothing to do with our…”
Journalist: “I was asking Mr Zahawi…”
Nigel Farage: “Well he wouldn’t know the answer to this would he?…There’s no reason why he should. The gentleman that spoke is part, indirectly of the American administration and gave an opinion.”
Journalist: “Okay, well if Mr Zahawi wanted to answer that. And also, tell me… what would you say to colleagues that you worked with in the Conservative government during the pandemic who might feel a little betrayed today. And Mr Farage, if I may as well, in 2022 when Nadhim Zahawi was appointed Chancellor, you said: ‘I thought Zahawi had principles but tonight we learned all he’s interested in is climbing that greasy poll’. Are you now greasing that poll for your new colleague?”
Nigel Farage: “Well, if you look at the clip, you will see that I professed to be a fan..of Nadhim. I very publicly said, I’m a big supporter of this guy…Actually, I mean, there was a period of time when I thought, you know, perhaps, perhaps if he became the leader of the Conservative Party, things might start to look a little different. So I was a fan, openly, publicly professed fan. I was disappointed that he decided to join what I saw as a failing government at that moment in time. But I’ve always been a fan of his.”
Zahawi: “Rob, I think you walked into that one. But thank you, Nigel. And thank you for the compliment. But look, ultimately, I reiterate again, I wouldn’t be sitting next to Nigel if he thought that what we did on vaccine was in some way a failure. Quite the opposite. He’s always said to me that what we were able to do was to harness the best of Britain, both from outside the civil service and from the civil service. Brigadier Phil Prosser, the great of our military, the great Emily Lawson, who came out from outside government to come and help into government, was something that he admired. But I have to say to you, and Nigel just gave the details, rightly so, because I wouldn’t have known the details about their party conference. I have to say to you, I prefer a party conference and a party that is open and believes in free speech and allows their members their candidates to debate openly and to actually have substantive disagreement but come together and then move forward with a strategy, real clear strategy, than parties that don’t allow that in the way the Labour Party is behaving and they behave in their party conferences.”
Nigel Farage: “Maybe worth, you know, talking about vaccine rollout, remembering, maybe the Prime Minister’s watching, we were only able to do what we did in the speed that we did it, because we were not members of the European Union and all the associated medical bodies. And that all seems to have been forgotten. We had the freedom to move and to act. And what Nadhim proved during that, is this bloke gets stuff done. And if we head on and win the next general election, we’re going to have a lot of stuff to do, including him.”
Regardless, the reality is that former ‘vaccines’ minister during Covid Nadhim Zahawi, has joined the only party whose leader has publicly linked ‘vaccines’ to excess death on our national airwaves.
And here is Farage publicly linking vaccines to excess death from myocarditis, and decrying the vaccine drive for children on GB News…
Become a premium member to access the clip of Nigel Farage publicly linking vaccines to excess death from myocarditis, and decrying the vaccine drive for children.
