Who could have seen it coming? Daniel Korski’s shock decision to drop out of the London mayoral race yesterday took most of Westminster by surprise, coming after he had spent several days trying to rebut allegations of inappropriate sexual misconduct. But Mr S can reveal that he, exclusively, knew it was all over for Korski several days before the official announcement came.
How so? It’s simple: Nadhim Zahawi, the unluckiest man in Tory politics, had backed him for the role. On Monday, the former Chancellor threw his weight behind Korski, praising his ‘grit, experience and ideas’ and ability to bring a ‘can-do-attitude to fixing London’s problems’. Just a few hours later the Times published Daisy Goodwin’s claims about Korski; allegations he strenuously denies. Korski’s campaign staggered on for 48 hours before ending ignominiously yesterday – with Zahawi earning the ignominious honour of being the final MP to back him.
A similar fate befell Zahawi in October too, during the second Tory leadership contest. In the weekend after Liz Truss fell from office, Conservative MPs had to decide between Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson. Zahawi endorsed the latter man, penning a Telegraph piece at 9:00 p.m that Sunday night, headed ‘Get ready for Boris 2.0.’ Unfortunately, this new ‘compassionate’ Johnson had neglected to tell his ‘friend’ that he had, in fact, already dropped out of the race minutes earlier. That episode came just four months after Zahawi had demanded that Johnson quit as Tory leader in July, two days after Johnson had made him Chancellor.
The iron rule of Tory politics seems to be that if you want to be on the right side of an election contest, just see who Nadhim is backing – then support the other guy.
Comments