Is Nadhim Zahawi’s defection to Farage’s Reform a bombshell? No, it's just naked opportunism | Henry Hill

The Guardian OpinionEditor

January 12, 2026 | 6:00 PM•1 min read

Originally published on The Guardian Opinion

Is Nadhim Zahawi’s defection to Farage’s Reform a bombshell? No, it's just naked opportunism | Henry Hill

The former chancellor’s criticism of the Tory government is indisputable – but so is his role in its dire record

Defections always pose a messaging dilemma for political parties. Heap too much ordure on the turncoat, and you invite the question of why you were happy to share a tent with them in the first place; praise them too highly, and you exacerbate whatever damage the defection is doing to you.

In the Conservatives’ case, this problem is compounded for journalists by the hyperinflation in key posts. A “former chancellor of the exchequer” sounds like a big deal, and historically it would have been. But in the five years of the last parliament there were no fewer than five chancellors (Margaret Thatcher, across her entire 11-year premiership, had three).

Henry Hill is deputy editor of ConservativeHome

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