British Conservative Party chairman sacked after tax investigation

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday sacked the chairman of his ruling Conservative Party for a “serious breach” of the ministerial code.

Pressure on Nadhim Zahawi had mounted amid allegations that he had paid a multi-million euro unpaid tax bill while in charge of the country’s treasury.

In a letter to Zahawi, Sunak wrote that he was forced to act after promising at the start of his term that his government would have “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level”.

Zahawi, the founder of polling website YouGov, had acknowledged a dispute with the IRS, but argued his error was “negligent and unintentional”.

The British media reported that the settlement was €5.7 million.

Zahawi ran the UK Treasury from July to September 2022 in the final months of Boris Johnson’s time as Prime Minister. Sunak said the decision came after an investigation into the party chairman’s financial dealings by the government’s independent standards adviser.

Laurie Magnus’s report found that Zahawi had shown “insufficient respect” for the ministerial code and the required standards “to be honest, open and an exemplary leader through his own conduct” in public life.