Would You like a feature Interview?
All Interviews are 100% FREE of Charge
Rishi Sunak has launched a tax probe into Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi as he struggles to keep his job.
Zahawi will continue to serve as party leader and minister while the investigation is ongoing.
The minister admitted he made a mistake with his taxes and paid HMRC an estimated £5million.The dispute was settled last summer when he was prime minister. Sunak is understood to have been unaware of the details when he appointed Zahawi to the cabinet.
A member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010, Mr Zahawi is considered one of the richest people in the House of Commons. Here’s how he made money before entering politics.
How did Nadim Zahawi make money?
Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Mr. Zahawi co-founded YouGov, an online market research firm, in 2000 and served as its CEO until February 2010.
He owns a significant property empire, Zahawi and Zahawi, along with his wife Lana. According to multiple estimates, the couple share a net worth of £30-100 million.
The latest results for the year to end June 2021 show that Zahawi & Zahawi has property assets worth £58m.
The company’s assets are understood to include commercial properties in Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, London and Surrey and Mr Zahawi’s constituency house on 31 acres of land in Warwickshire. Past assets included land occupied by his two hypermarkets and an industrial park in Kent.
Zahawi stepped down from the company’s board in January 2018 to become minister. Currently, Mr. Zahawi is the controlling shareholder and his twin sons Ahmad and Jaafar Shanshal are listed as the only other directors of the company.
Mr. Zahawi and his sons are also the only directors listed on the corporate house of a company called Warren Medical, then Zahawi Medical, which was founded in June 2020.
Zahawi was forced to deny that the company was involved in providing services related to the Covid-19 pandemic while he was vaccines minister.
In an interview with LBC Radio, he said the company was set up to finalize a real estate transaction that never went ahead, and that its establishment was fully declared to the business sector, of which he was minister at the time. Disbanded in April 2021.
The former Prime Minister served as Chief Strategy Officer of Gulf Keystone Petroleum from 2015 to 2018. Oil and gas exploration companies paid him a large salary. In his final year he received £210,000. He retired from that role again before becoming his minister.
see more conservatives
What does Nadim Zahawi say about his taxes?
Zahawi, who is paid by taxpayers, said in a statement on Saturday that HMRC “did not agree on the exact allocation” of YouGov’s shares held by him and his father.
He added: I decided to settle the matter and pay what they owed so I could focus on my civil service life. ”
The prime minister has asked his independent adviser on ministerial interests, Sir Laurie Magnus, to launch an inquiry into Mr Zahawy.
In a statement, Zahawi said:I look forward to explaining the facts of this matter Sir Laurie Magnus [independent adviser on ministers’ interests] and his team.
“I am confident that I have acted appropriately throughout and look forward to answering any specific questions in a formal manner to Lord Raleigh.
“In order to ensure the independence of this process, I will continue my duties as Chairman of the Conservative Union Party, so please understand that it is inappropriate to discuss this issue further.”
“Honesty and accountability are very important to me, and there are clearly questions that need to be answered in this case,” Sunak told reporters.
“Therefore, the Independent Advisor has been asked to thoroughly investigate this matter and provide me with advice on compliance with Nadim Zahawi’s Ministerial Decree, on which basis he will determine the appropriate next steps.”
On Tuesday, No 10 declined to confirm whether the prime minister is confident that party leaders are always telling the truth about tax matters.
Sunak’s spokesman said “additional facts” have changed the situation since the prime minister’s question last Wednesday, when Zahawi told parliamentarians that he had “already fully addressed this issue”. However, the prime minister continues to resist calls to remove him.
