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Former UK chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has joined Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, claiming that the UK was “sick” as he became one of the biggest names to defect to the opposition party, which is leading in the polls.
“You know in your heart of hearts that our wonderful country is sick,” he said at a Reform press conference in central London.
Zahawi, who was born in Baghdad, made a fortune in business as founder of the pollster YouGov before his election as Tory MP for Stratford-on-Avon in 2010.
He was sacked from his role as chair of the Conservative Party in 2023 by then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following the publication of a report into his tax affairs.
He had previously served as chancellor of the exchequer at the end of Boris Johnson’s premiership in 2022.
This is a developing story