Tory party chairman Nadhim Zahawi has been removed from his post by the Prime Minister after an investigation into his tax affairs revealed he had broken the ministerial code.
Zahawi, who failed to disclose the ongoing HMRC investigation into his finances when he was appointed as Chancellor last July by Boris Johnson, was forced to make a multi-million pound settlement with HMRC over untaxed capital gains. He is now facing calls to stand down as an MP altogether.
Despite news of the Stratford-upon-Avon MP’s potential financial improprieties breaking nationally soon after his appointment as Chancellor in July, the Prime Minister claims that he ordered an investigation into Zahawi as soon as he was alerted to the situation.
The episode has raised serious concerns about the Prime Minister’s judgement, with the Opposition now calling for a full report on what Rishi Sunak knew and when.
The sacking of Zahawi makes him the second Cabinet minister to be sacked within just the first 100 days of Rishi Sunak’s premiership, and his Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab, is currently under investigation after 24 allegations of bullying were made against him.
Cary Mitchell, Director of Operations at Best for Britain, said:
“Rishi Sunak is presiding over a revolving door of sleaze and scandal, with Nadhim Zahawi the latest, but probably not the last to be pushed through it.
“Britain deserves better than the moral vacuum that a succession of Conservative PMs has placed at the centre of our national government.”