Boris Johnson’s ally Nadhim Zahawi secretly worked on leadership bid for months

Nadhim Zahawi told Boris Johnson he’d resign unless he was made Chancellor. Now he’s using his new role as a springboard to a leadership bid.

Nadhim Zahawi will use his new role as Chancellor as a launch pad to a leadership bid. Picture: Getty Images.

Nadhim Zahawi has been secretly working with close allies of Sir Lynton Crosby on a Tory leadership bid for months, The Times has been told.

Despite becoming chancellor on Tuesday, Zahawi has been preparing behind the scenes a plan to become prime minister, which includes cutting corporation tax and VAT and looking at stamp duty.

He is understood to be ready to activate the campaign immediately, and the team had been preparing a resignation letter centred on trust had he not been made chancellor.

Behind the leadership bid are strategists close to Crosby, the Australian election guru who helped Johnson become London mayor twice and ran David Cameron’s 2015 campaign.

Mark Fullbrook, a founding partner in Crosby’s CT Group who worked on Johnson’s leadership campaign and has since set up his own firm, is running the strategy. Fullbrook, a former head of campaigning for the Conservatives, helped John Major to win in 1992 before setting up a public relations advice service for MPs. It was caught up in scandal after it emerged Tory MPs were claiming for its services on expenses.

Matt Jackson, another CT alumnus now working with Fullbrook, is handling the media. Mac Chapwell, head of campaigns at Fullbrook Strategies, is also involved, together with some of Zahawi’s own team.

Fullbrook is said to have been told by Crosby that Zahawi is the right successor for Johnson. Fullbrook is understood to have been involved for five to six months, Jackson for three or four.

Boris Johnson (C) flanked by Britain's Justice Secretary and deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab (L) and Britain's new Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi (R) during prime minister's questions. Picture: AFP.

The Times has been told that when Zahawi went into No 10 on Tuesday evening he saw holding the Treasury job, even if only in the short term, as a way to get his message across.

He is said to have pushed on cutting corporation tax, VAT dropping to 17.5 per cent and a fresh look at stamp duty. He also said the government had to “become Conservatives” again.

In a statemement on Thursday the CT Group said: “The article in The Times which claims that Sir Lynton, or CT Group, have helped or are helping plan a leadership bid by Nadhim Zahawi is categorically untrue.

“To be clear, there is no ‘Crosby-approved plan’ for Mr Zahawi to become prime minister nor did he promote him for chancellor or approve a tax policy agenda.

“The Times did not contact Sir Lynton, or CT Group, prior to publishing these false assertions. We are considering all options in response.”

A minister who was in meetings with Johnson on Tuesday night confirmed that the prime minister wanted to appoint Liz Truss as chancellor but Zahawi got the job after threatening to quit. The minister, a close ally of the prime minister, said: “You could not have a starker example of the PM’s lack of authority. Nadhim has no followers, he could have easily lost him.” He predicted that the appointment of Zahawi would bring down the government. Another MP said Zahawi had indicated to them privately that he was planning to quit earlier in the day.

One source with knowledge of the situation said: “He wants to see low tax, he wants to see a competitive economic landscape, he wants people to be better off. He didn’t say we can’t tax ourselves into prosperity but that’s certainly his mindset.” The source added: “I think he was aware that this was going to move quickly. And he needs to make as much noise as you physically can and use that as a springboard.”

Australian guru Lynton Crosby helped Boris Johnson become London mayor twice. Picture: Alan Davidson.

A friend said that Zahawi had seen Johnson’s departure as “inevitable”. Explaining Zahawi’s thinking in accepting the job, they said: “A vacancy comes up, you know that things are going to get really rocky.

“You’re the guy with real business experience … and you think is it going to go to someone like Liz Truss? You have to say: ‘No, Boris, you need someone good to do this for the good of the country.’” They said Zahawi took the view that “you can go a couple of weeks without a skills minister but you can’t go a couple of weeks without a chancellor”.

Zahawi hinted at what could be in a future manifesto on Wednesday morning, when he told Sky News: “I know that boards around the world, when they make investment decisions, they’re long-term, and the one tax they can compare globally is corporation tax. I want to make sure that we are as competitive as we can be while maintaining fiscal discipline.”

He added: “The important thing is to get inflation under control, be fiscally responsible. The first thing we’ve got to do is make sure … that inflation doesn’t continue to be fuelled.”

A source said that in Zahawi’s first meeting at the Treasury he had indicated he wanted to scrap the planned rise in corporation tax and increase income tax thresholds to reduce personal taxes. “Don’t forget, you don’t know how long the leadership contest will go on for. And during the contest he will still be chancellor,” the source added. “It’s a great way of setting out your stall.”

Zahawi’s manoeuvres have led to a backlash among other senior ministers, who accuse Crosby of attempting to hand-pick Johnson’s successor. “Nadhim is Lynton’s chosen candidate to take over,” said one senior government figure. “His calculation in the last couple of days seems to have been that if Johnson made Nadhim his chancellor then it would raise his profile ahead of a leadership election.”

The Times