PM sacks Zahawi in wake of tax row
NADHIM Zahawi has been fired by Rishi Sunak for a “serious breach” of the Ministerial Code, following days of controversy over the Conservative Party chairman’s tax affairs.
Mr Zahawi, who was appointed to the role by the Prime Minister last October, had been facing calls to stand aside after Mr Sunak ordered an ethics inquiry into the former chancellor’s tax affairs.
The Tory chairman had faced damaging reports he had settled an estimated £4.8 million bill with HM Revenue & Customs while he was chancellor, including paying a penalty.
Pressure on ministers grew after HMRC boss Jim Harra told MPs there are “no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs”.
The rapid conclusion of the investigation by Sir Laurie Magnus, the Prime Minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, came after Mr Sunak resisted calls to sack his party colleague immediately and instead stressed the need for “due process”.
But in a letter published yesterday morning and following Sir Laurie’s inquiry, 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.”
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.
“As you leave, you should be extremely proud of your wide-ranging achievements in Government over the last five years.”
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 on a tax bill over the sale of shares in YouGov – the polling firm he founded – worth an estimated £27 million and which were 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” he had “acted properly throughout”.
Yesterday, he told Mr Sunak that he was concerned “about the conduct from some of the fourth estate in recent weeks”, in a reference to the media.
He said: “It has been, after being blessed with my loving family, the privilege of my life to serve in successive governments and make what I believe to have been a tangible difference to the country I love.”
In comments which appear to indicate that the former chancellor holds out little prospect of returning to office in the years to come, he said: “You can be assured of my support from the backbenches in the coming years. Your five priorities are the right priorities and I will do whatever I can to help you deliver them.”
Sir Laurie’s four-page report, dated January 29, said the technical details of the HMRC investigation were outside his scope.
Instead, he considered Mr Zahawi’s “handling of the matter in light of his responsibilities as a Minister”.
In that regard, he found that the Tory chairman had shown “insufficient regard for the general principles of the Ministerial Code and the requirements in particular, under the seven Principles of Public Life, to be honest, open and an exemplary leader through his own behaviour”.