Prime minister Rishi Sunak has dismissed the chairman of his Conservative party. Independent investigations into the tax affairs of Chairman Nadhim Zahawi have revealed that he violated the ministerial code, the party leader said in a letter.
Zahawi was finance minister last year when he was working on a settlement of a tax dispute. It is not known how much money the politician ultimately had to pay. According to British media, it may be 4.8 million pounds, including a fine.
The prime minister had ordered his ethics adviser to investigate Zahawi. According to the British media, Zahawi “did not take sufficient account of the principles of the ministerial code”. Sunak points out that when he took office as prime minister, in October last year, he had promised an “honest, professional and responsible” government.
Zahawi was a member of Sunak’s cabinet, although he was a minister without a department. The politician was first elected as a parliamentarian in 2010 and held top political positions, especially in the last few years. Zahawi was one of the founders of the research firm YouGov in 2000.
