Government minister Sir Chris Bryant has torn into Reform UK’s Nadhim Zahawi over him saying he felt unsafe in London after walking past a very tired-looking man one morning who he felt could be violent.
The former Tory Chancellor, who defected to Reform in January, used the experience to argued that the capital is so crime ridden that it is not safe.
But he was hit by a wave of mockery from Labour, the Tories and on social media.
His story may also have spread across the Continent to Rome and other parts of Italy after it was highlighted by the UK correspondent for La Repubblica.
Appearing on LBC Radio, Mr Zahawi was asked by presenter Nick Ferrari if he felt safe in London.
“No,” he said.
“I’ve got to tell you. Yesterday, I walked from my home, in one of the most upmarket...areas of London.
“An individual walked past me.
“I literally walked off the pavement into the middle of the road, kept a very close eye, 8am...”
Pressed whether the individual appeared to be drunk or aggressive, Mr Zahawi added: “He looked like he hadn’t slept for a week..looked like somebody that might be violent...
“But I walked away from the pavement, and I’m a big guy, and I don’t feel safe that my 13-year-old can walk in London. That can’t be right.”
Asked again if he felt safe in London, he responded: “No.”
But trade minister Sir Chris messaged on X: “Oh my goodness. The poor thing. I can’t imagine what he’s been through. I hope he gets the counselling he needs.”
He added: “(Please note, London is one of the very safest major cities in the world)”
Mr Zahawi hit back, posting: “Let’s see what the people think @RhonddaBryant at the ballot box.
“Making light, making fun of people’s concerns about their safety in their neighbourhoods will not end well for @UKLabour.”
But London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan urged Mr Zahawi to “stop being a pound shop version of Donald Trump,” adding: “The Reform Party, come on, grow up.”
NEW: Mayor Sadiq Khan calls @reformparty_uk Nadhim Zahawi a “pound shop” Donald Trump - after he told @LBC with @NickFerrariLBC parts of London were “unrecognisable” and he feels unsafe. pic.twitter.com/AauC2XgJiS
— Joseph Draper LBC (@JosephDraper5) February 13, 2026
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake also took a swipe at Mr Zahawi, reposting a message which said: “Please be careful in London.
“I have spent 25 years there, but I have never heard a story as frightening as this one from today in which nothing at all happened.”
East Hull Labour MP Karl Turner ramped up the criticism of Mr Zahawi, who was sacked as Tory chairman in 2023 after an ethics inquiry involving his tax affairs in which he ended up paying HMRC nearly £5 million to settle a dispute.
Mr Turner messaged on X: “Mate you told @NickFerrariLBC that you had to walk into the middle of the road to avoid a working class geezer looking tired.
“My constituents will be taking the p**** out of you just like I am. Get a grip man. It’s a bloke that looked a bit tired, not a villain FFS!”
Mr Zahawi responded: “Keep making fun Karl. Let’s see what the voters think.
“‘We don’t have a problem Labour Karl says, our streets are safe and all is hunky-dory, anyone feeling otherwise about their neighbourhood let them eat cake’.”
The ex-Cabinet minister also told how his security team had reported the incident to the Met Police but he said nothing had happened in relation to it.
Antonello Guerrera, UK correspondent for La Repubblica quipped on X: “London is really dangerous. You can even bump into someone who “looks as if he hadn’t slept for a week”. Awful.”
Previously unseen image of the terrifying incident. pic.twitter.com/7xPlj1M17j
— Withnail Jones (@withnailjones) February 14, 2026
Memes mocking Mr Zahawi were circulating on social media including one suggesting he had bumped into an exhausted NHS doctor.
The row erupted ahead of Nigel Farage holding a rally in Romford, east London, on Monday.
London’s mayoral candidate for Reform, Laila Cunningham, is seeking to make crime in the capital a centrepiece of the party’s campaign for the May borough elections.
She has argued that the city is unsafe, with the levels of knife crime and phone thefts.
However, the number of murders recorded in London has dropped to its lowest level per capita since records began, Scotland Yard chief Sir Mark Rowley has stressed.
There were 97 homicides in the capital in 2025, down 36 per cent from 153 in 2019 and 11 per cent fewer than the 109 in 2024.
The Met Police has emphasised that 2025 saw a homicide rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people in London, safer than comparable global cities such as New York at 2.8, Paris (1.6), Toronto (1.6), Berlin (3.2), Los Angeles (5.6), Chicago (11.7), and Philadelphia (12.3).
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