The Tories have claimed that Nadhim Zahawi ‘begged’ them for a peerage weeks before he defected to Reform UK this morning.
The parties have entered into a bitter war of words after the big beast politician and former Chancellor quit the Tories for Nigel Farage‘s outfit at a press conference in Pall Mall.
Mr Zahawi warned that Britain was “drinking at the last chance saloon” and “really does need Nigel Farage as prime minister”.
However the Tories have claimed that Mr Zahawi twice requested to be elevated to the House of Lords, branding him “shameless”.
A CCHQ spokesman said: “Nadhim has made multiple approaches on at least two occasions – not just asking but begging for a peerage from us. When it didn’t happen, he came begging again. While he wasn’t rudely rebuffed by us, we were very clear he wasn’t going to get one.”
Tories hit back at Nadhim Zahawi after Reform UK defection
The Conservative Party has launched a sharp response after former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi defected to Reform UK, accusing his former political home of having lost its ability to provide Britain with the change he believes the country needs.
Zahawi’s move, announced in January 2026, represented one of the most high-profile defections from the Conservatives to Nigel Farage’s party. The former cabinet minister endorsed Farage’s leadership and declared that Britain needed Reform.
The Conservatives responded immediately, questioning Zahawi’s record and his reasons for leaving.
The confrontation has significance beyond one politician changing parties. It highlights the continuing struggle between the Conservatives and Reform UK for voters who want tougher positions on immigration, lower taxes, greater national sovereignty and a different direction for Britain.
Zahawi’s dramatic announcement
Zahawi announced his defection at a Reform UK press conference in London on 12 January 2026.
The former chancellor said Britain was “broken” and argued that the country needed Farage as prime minister. He described Reform as a political movement capable of changing Britain’s direction and said he believed the country’s best days could still lie ahead.
The announcement immediately attracted attention because Zahawi was not an ordinary former Conservative politician.
He had held several senior government positions, including chancellor during Boris Johnson’s premiership and education secretary. He also played a prominent role in the early stages of Britain’s Covid vaccination programme.
His decision therefore gave Reform something it has often lacked: a politician with direct experience of senior government.
Reuters described Zahawi as the latest in a series of former Conservatives to join Farage’s party, but noted that he was no longer an MP after choosing not to stand at the 2024 general election.
The Conservative counterattack
The Conservatives did not welcome the announcement.
A Conservative Party spokesperson dismissed Reform as a destination for former politicians seeking another political opportunity, describing it as a party increasingly populated by former establishment figures.
The attack reflected an obvious political problem for the Conservatives.
Reform has been attempting to attract voters who previously supported the Conservatives. Every senior defection gives Farage’s party an opportunity to argue that established Conservative politicians themselves no longer believe the Conservative Party can deliver the changes Britain needs.
The Conservatives therefore have an incentive to portray defectors not as political converts but as individuals whose departure says little about the future of the party.
That battle over interpretation is central to the story.
For Reform, Zahawi’s arrival can be presented as evidence that experienced politicians are moving towards the party.
For the Conservatives, it can be presented as evidence that Reform is increasingly dependent on figures from the very political establishment it claims to replace.
Questions over Zahawi’s motivations
The most contentious part of the story concerns why Zahawi decided to leave.
Tory sources claimed that Zahawi had sought a seat in the House of Lords before joining Reform and that his request had been rejected.
The Guardian reported that Conservative sources said Zahawi had asked Kemi Badenoch’s team for a peerage but was turned down, with his previous removal as Conservative Party chairman over his tax affairs cited as a reason.
Zahawi’s allies disputed that account.
ITV News reported that people close to Zahawi denied that his decision was motivated by a failed peerage request and said Badenoch’s team had themselves been interested in his advice.
That disagreement is important.
The claim that Zahawi left because he failed to secure a peerage is an allegation from Conservative sources, rather than an established fact.
Zahawi himself presented his decision as political.
He said Britain needed a change of direction and argued that Reform represented an opportunity to deliver that change.
A complicated Conservative history
Zahawi’s relationship with the Conservative Party had already gone through several turbulent periods.
He became chancellor during the final months of Boris Johnson’s premiership in 2022, following Rishi Sunak’s resignation from the Treasury.
His time at the Treasury lasted only around two months before Liz Truss became prime minister.
Zahawi subsequently served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under Truss before returning to the political centre of controversy after becoming Conservative Party chairman under Rishi Sunak.
In January 2023, Sunak dismissed him after an ethics investigation found that Zahawi had breached the ministerial code over his tax affairs.
The controversy concerned an HMRC settlement involving his tax affairs. Zahawi subsequently confirmed that he had paid a substantial amount to settle the matter.
Reuters reported that the episode was part of the background to his later departure from frontline Conservative politics.
That history provides the Conservatives with material for their criticism.
But it also gives Reform an experienced former minister who can argue that he understands the strengths and weaknesses of government from the inside.
Farage and Zahawi’s remarkable reversal
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the defection was Zahawi’s previous relationship with Farage.
The two men had not always been political allies.
ITV News reported that Zahawi had previously criticised Farage and had said that he would be frightened to live in a country governed by the Reform leader.
Farage himself had previously criticised Zahawi.
The two politicians were therefore not natural political partners.
Yet in January they appeared together to announce the defection.
Zahawi explained the change by arguing that political circumstances had changed and that Britain was facing problems that required a different political response.
The episode illustrates how dramatically British politics has shifted since the Brexit referendum.
Politicians who once occupied clearly defined positions within the Conservative establishment are now considering whether Reform represents a more effective vehicle for their political objectives.
Reform’s growing challenge to the Conservatives
The Zahawi defection also fits into a wider pattern.
Several former Conservative MPs and politicians had already moved towards Reform UK.
Lee Anderson, Robert Jenrick and other former Conservatives had joined Farage’s party, with additional defections following during 2026. ITV later reported that Reform had attracted around 21 former Conservative MPs or politicians, although not all were sitting MPs at the time of their move.
That development presents the Conservatives with a difficult strategic problem.
If the party moves too far towards Reform’s positions on immigration, Brexit or crime, it risks allowing Farage to argue that voters might as well support the original Reform version.
If the Conservatives refuse to move towards those positions, Reform can argue that the Conservatives have learned nothing from their electoral difficulties.
The arrival of politicians such as Zahawi makes that argument even more complicated.
Is Reform becoming “Tory 2.0”?
The defections have also generated a debate within Reform itself.
Some commentators have argued that the arrival of so many former Conservative figures could make Reform resemble the political establishment it has spent years criticising.
The Guardian reported that Reform insiders had expressed concern that Zahawi’s recruitment could make the party appear like a home for former Conservatives rather than a genuinely new political force.
That criticism has a clear political logic.
Reform built its identity partly around opposition to the traditional Conservative Party.
Yet attracting experienced Conservatives also gives Reform access to politicians who understand government departments, parliamentary procedures and the machinery of Whitehall.
The party therefore faces a trade-off.
It can gain experience while risking accusations that it is becoming less distinct from the party it seeks to replace.
Zahawi’s record adds another dimension
Zahawi’s background is particularly interesting because his political career extends beyond the issues most closely associated with Reform.
He was a central figure in Britain’s Covid vaccination programme.
That experience became relevant after he joined Reform because sections of the party have included prominent vaccine-sceptic voices.
The Guardian reported that some Reform members questioned Zahawi’s role in the vaccine rollout and highlighted differences between his record and views expressed by some figures associated with Reform.
Zahawi defended the vaccination programme and said he would not have joined Reform if he believed Farage fundamentally opposed what had been done.
This illustrates another challenge created by political defections.
Joining a new party does not erase a politician’s previous record.
Former ministers bring their history with them, including policies they supported, decisions they made and controversies they experienced.
What the defection means for the Conservatives
The political significance of Zahawi’s departure therefore extends beyond the individual.
The Conservatives must now compete with a party that has become increasingly attractive to former Conservative politicians.
That gives Reform additional credibility among voters who may otherwise see it as inexperienced.
At the same time, the Conservatives can argue that Reform is accumulating politicians who were part of the governing establishment for many years.
The argument is likely to continue.
Reform wants to demonstrate that experienced politicians are joining because they believe Britain’s political system needs fundamental change.
The Conservatives want to demonstrate that their party remains capable of renewal and that defections do not represent the future direction of British politics.
A changing British political landscape
Zahawi’s move ultimately reflects a broader transformation in British politics.
The old divisions between Conservative and Labour remain important, but a new contest has emerged over voters who feel dissatisfied with the established parties.
Reform has attempted to turn that dissatisfaction into a national political movement.
The Conservatives, meanwhile, are trying to rebuild after a period of electoral difficulty while protecting their position as a major centre-right force.
The defection of a former chancellor makes that competition more visible.
Zahawi says he joined Reform because he believes Britain needs a different direction.
The Conservatives say his departure should be viewed in the context of his own political history and previous controversies.
Neither interpretation can simply be assumed to explain his motives without evidence.
What is beyond dispute is that a former Conservative chancellor has chosen to place his political future alongside Nigel Farage.
That decision gives Reform another experienced voice, while giving the Conservatives another reminder that their former colleagues can now find a political home elsewhere.
The bigger question is whether such defections will fundamentally reshape Britain’s centre-right politics—or whether they will simply add another chapter to an already turbulent period for both Reform UK and the Conservative Party.