𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Boris Johnson told his former Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi that his defection from the Conservatives to Reform UK “broke his heart”. Mr Zahawi was seen as one of Mr Johnson’s very closest allies in the Tory party but in January he made the shock shift to Reform.

He told the Policy Fix podcast that Mr Johnson is “still a friend” but did not deny the ex-PM was saddened by his move to Nigel Farage’s party.

Mr Zahawi said: “I saw him after my announcement, and he [was], as he’s always been, generous of heart. He said, ‘You broke my heart, I’m sorry that you’ve made this decision, but, you know, we’ll find out whether you’ve made the right decision.’”

In his interview with Steve Rigby, chief executive of the Rigby Group, he ruled out Mr Johnson ever joining Reform, pointing out that Mr Farage refers to the wave of migrants stemming from the former PM’s premiership as the “Boris wave”.

He said: “Boris won’t [defect]. And I don’t think Nigel would want Boris to come across. I think it’s not a secret that he sees [the] ‘Boris wave’ as fundamental to the breaking of some of our institutions in this country that we’re going to need to fix.”

Mr Zahawi stressed the depth of his relationship with Mr Johnson. He noted the then-PM kept him on as Chancellor even after he reported the collapse in support for him among Tory MPs, telling him: “Look, the herd has stampeded. You’ve got to consider your position.”

Describing Mr Johnson’s present situation, he said: “He’s enjoying writing what I hope will be a brilliant book on Shakespeare, and so he’s going to be visiting us in Stratford-upon-Avon. [He] is in good shape.”

Mr Zahawi, who was born in Iraq, served in a succession of senior roles including, Education Secretary and Conservative party chairman. Before entering politics he co-founded pollsters YouGov.

He announced his defection to Reform in January, saying it was time for a “glorious revolution”. However, Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said the switch followed the Conservatives deciding Mr Zahawi was not “the right person to be elevated to the House of Lords”.