29 JANUARY 2023 | NEWS
Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked by Rishi Sunak as Chairman of the Conservative Party for a “serious breach” of the Ministerial Code, following days of controversy over his tax affairs.
Mr Zahawi was appointed to the role of Tory Party Chair last October by the Prime Minister, however had been facing calls to step down after facing damaging reports that he had settled an estimated £4.8 million bill with HM Revenue & Customs while he was Chancellor, including paying a penalty.
Pressure on Mr Zahawi grew after HMRC boss Jim Harra told MPs there are “no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs”.
The Prime Minister, upon hearing about a possible breach of the ministerial code, ordered an ethics inquiry into the former Chancellor’s tax affairs.
Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, concluded in his inquiry that Mr Zahawi’s conduct had fallen short of the standards expected in government.
Following this verdict, Mr Sunak told Mr Zahawi that he believed he had committed a “serious breach of the Ministerial Code”.
“As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty’s Government,” he wrote.
Craig Hoy, a Tory MSP and Chairman of the Scottish Conservative Party, said he believed Mr Sunak made “the right decision” by sacking Mr Zahawi.
Commenting on the Sunday morning political round, Mr Hoy said: “It was only right and proper that he asked Sir Laurie Magnus, his Ethics Adviser, to look into this issue, and so Laurie has come back and swiftly concluded that Nadhim has broken the Ministerial Code and the Prime Minister has then acted decisively in removing Mr Zahawi from office.
“I think the Prime Minister has done the right thing, really.”
In the letter, Mr Sunak told the Tory MP: “When I became Prime Minister last year, I pledged that the Government I lead would have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”
He paid tribute to Mr Zahawi’s contribution to the Government, including his role as Vaccines Minister during the pandemic.
In his reply to the Prime Minister, Mr Zahawi did not explicitly refer to the findings of the inquiry.
The row surrounding Mr Zahawi had centred around a tax bill over the sale of shares in YouGov – the polling firm he founded – worth an estimated £27 million and held by Balshore Investments, a company registered offshore in Gibraltar and linked to Mr Zahawi’s family.
Mr Zahawi, who has been MP for Stratford-upon-Avon since 2010, had said that HMRC concluded there had been a “careless and not deliberate” error in the way the founders’ shares, which he had allocated to his father, had been treated.
He had also insisted he was “confident” that he had “acted properly throughout” the matter.
As is customary, Mr Zahawi wrote a letter of resignation to the Prime Minister, which can be read in full here:
In it, the former Chairman referred to and expressed his concern about “the conduct from some of the fourth estate in recent weeks”, in reference to media scrutiny of his tax affairs.
The Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Daisy Cooper, said Mr Zahawi should stand down as an MP, adding that he had “shown he is unfit to serve in Cabinet and unfit to serve the people of Stratford-on-Avon”.
It is not yet known who will replace Mr Zahawi as Chairman of the Conservative Party at the time of publication.
