Rupert Murdoch’s News UK and GB News owner Sir Paul Marshall are also thought to be among the interested bidders.
But the owners of the Daily Mail, DMGT, pulled out of the auction last week, saying that the group would “face a heightened risk of a protracted regulatory process if we were to win the auction” following the election of a new Labour government.
The Telegraph and the Spectator magazine, both right leaning publications, were put up for sale last year when they were seized by Lloyds Banking Group from long-time owners the Barclay family, which had failed to pay back a loan of more than £1bn.
However, before an auction process could conclude, the Barclay family paid off their debt with money lent by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, the owner of Manchester City football club and vice-president and deputy prime minister of the UAE.
In return, the Barclays agreed to transfer ownership of the newspapers to the Gulf-backed consortium.
A number of Conservative politicians and senior journalists at the titles had voiced serious concerns at the prospect of a sale to what they considered to be a foreign power and with the government intervention and new legislation, the bid stalled.
It is thought Nadhim Zahawi helped broker that deal, and is now keen to mount his own bid for the titles.
Mr Zahawi was education secretary from September 2021 to July 2022 and also served as Chancellor of the Exchequer for a short stint between July and September 2022.
He was sacked as Tory Party chairman in January last year after an inquiry found he had breached the ministerial code by failing to disclose that he was being investigated by HMRC over his tax affairs.
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