Zahawi defects: are Reform becoming Tories 2.0?

Coffee House Shots

Jan 12, 2026•15 min

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Episode description

How many Tories is too many? That’s the question Westminster is asking after the unveiling of Reform’s latest defector. Nadhim Zahawi, Boris Johnson’s brief-lived Chancellor of the Exchequer, is Nigel Farage’s latest recruit. He told journalists that the UK had reached a ‘dark and dangerous’ moment, and that the country needed ‘a glorious revolution’. But are Reform just turning into the Tories 2.0? And what will Zahawi’s role be – is he the elusive shadow chancellor Farage has been searching for?

Oscar Edmondson speaks to Tim Shipman and James Heale.

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

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