The current UK Tory Party Chair and Former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from the cabinet.
Nadhim Zahawi Member of Parliament (MP) for Stratford-Upon-Avon was sacked after the PM Ethics Adviser (Sir Laurie Magnus), instructed by the PM to investigate the matter found him to have broken the ‘Ministerial Code’ in dealing with his Tax Affairs on Multiple occasions, including:
Firstly, failure to declare to PM Boris Johnson when he was promoted as Education Secretary in October 2021 and Chancellor in July 2022 that he was being investigated by HMRC.
Secondly, failing to declare that he was investigated by HMRC and had paid a Penalty for ‘Tax Avoidance’ when he was appointed Cabinet Office Secretary in September 2022 to Former PM Liz Truss’s and Tory Chair in October 2022 to Current PM Rishi Sunak’s Governments.
Thirdly, having failed to declare any interests that might be thought to give rise to a conflict of interest and inform relevant ‘Government Officials’ that he was a subject of an Official Probe by HMRC.
And lastly, for not updating his Declaration of Interest to his Permanent Secretary until January 2023, despite being Officially notified in July 2022 that he was under probe by HMRC; thereby not being transparent in his Tax Affairs.
Trouble started from a 42.5 per cent stake in YouGov (an International Internet-Based Market Research Firm co-founded by Zahawi), when it was reported that he was not issued a Founders Shares, instead arranged it to be held in an Offshore Trust controlled by his father in Gibraltar; a scheme reported to be motivated by ‘Tax Avoidance’, a claim which he denied during his 2022 Conservative Leadership Campaign.
In January 2023, The Guardian reported that Zahawi had made a settlement of about £5m HM Revenue & Custom (HMRC) last summer — including payment of a penalty to settle his Tax Affairs. This led to Opposition Labour Party calling for a full probe into the matter and some Conservative Party Colleagues calling for the MP to make a Full Disclosure.
In a letter published by Downing Street on Sunday 29/01/2023, Prime Minister Sunak said he had intervened in line with his pledge to ensure his government would have “Integrity, Professionalism and Accountability at every level”, asserting that “It is clear that there has been a serious breach of the Ministerial Code,”.
The departure of Zahawi on Sunday after weeks of negative coverage is the latest political scandal to hit Britain’s ruling party during the current ‘cost-of-living’ crisis.
