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Reform-backer and former Conservative chairman Nadhim Zahawi has been accused of peddling falsehoods on national TV after claiming Farage-rival and comedy candidate Count Binface received “£180,000” from Labour donor and Ecotricity founder Dale Vince.
On Friday 14 August, Reform UK’s Nadhim Zahawi appeared as a guest on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, discussing the Clacton by-election result. The vote saw Reform leader Nigel Farage return to Parliament last Thursday, following the by-election he called to counter standards investigations into his funding.
Host Kate Garraway noted that the anti-Farage candidate received 9,455 votes, securing over a quarter of the vote in an election where the main opposition parties did not stand.
Reform defector Zahawi replied: “Yeah and he got, by the way, he got I think £180,000 from Dale Vince, who is a big Labour supporter. He got activists from the Conservative Party and from Labour going out to try and knock on doors for him.”
His statement follows a report in the Telegraph on 9 July stating: “One of Labour’s biggest donors has pledged to fund Count Binface in his Clacton by-election battle with Nigel Farage…[Dale Vince] could donate up to £180,050 to Count Binface to spend on campaigning materials during a by-election.” However, no donation appears to have been made from the businessman and activist.
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In a statement on social media, Count Binface – real name Jon Harvey – wrote on Friday Zahawi’s claim was “untrue.”
“Dale Vince has never donated any money to me, and at no point have I asked activists from any other party to knock on doors for me. If anyone did so, it was not at my direction and was of their own volition.
“I’m sure Mr Zahawi will want to correct the record at his earliest convenience.”
Dale Vince told Byline Times Zahawi’s claim was: “untrue, totally false, a fantasy.”
He claimed it was “unconnected with reality and unchecked by anyone at Reform (no-one asked).” Vince added: “Who does that?” The entrepreneur’s team is set to contact Zahawi.
He confirmed he had donated nothing to Count Binface.
“Reform plays fast and loose with the truth, not just dodgy donations. There are five million (secret) reasons why complaining about someone else’s funding is just plain daft. Even if it were truth as opposed to fantasy,” the green entrepreneur added, referring to crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne’s pre-election ‘gift’ of £5 million to Nigel Farage.
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A spokesperson for ITV told this outlet it had already issued a clarification on this morning’s GMB programme at 6:28am.
Presenter Ranvir Singh said: “Before we get into today’s stories on Friday’s programme, Nadhim Zahawi said that Count Binface had received £180,000 from the businessman Dale Vince and had asked Labour and Conservative Party activists to go and knock on doors for him. While Mr Vince did offer financial support to Count Binface, it was never accepted. Count Binface also says he has never asked activists from other parties to knock on doors for him. We are happy to clarify that position.”
Zahawi defected to Reform UK this January, claiming he did so to protect free speech. The former Conservative was briefly Chancellor in the dying days of Boris Johnson’s premiership, calling for Johnson to resign less than 48 hours after being appointed to the top economic role. Johnson then did resign, only for Zahawi to later endorse calls for the former PM to return to the top job.
Zahawi had previously strongly criticised the Reform leader. In 2015, Zahawi told LBC …