UK PM Rishi Sunak Fires Conservative Party Chair Nadhim Zahawi Over Tax Issues

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. (Wikimedia Commons/Downing Street No.10/Rory Arnold)

JAKARTA - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Conservative Party chief Nadhim Zahawi on Sunday, after an investigation found him guilty of serious misconduct by not being open about a tax probe.

Prime Minister Sunak initially defended Zahawi, before ordering independent counsel to investigate questions over his tax dealings, after it was learned Zahawi had completed an investigation by British tax authority HMRC last year.

Zahawi said the tax agency decided he was "reckless" with his statement, but unintentionally made a mistake to pay less tax, confirming he paid the fine to HMRC.

Sunak's independent adviser Laurie Magnus said Zahawi had not declared his tax affairs under investigation when he was appointed finance minister last year and failed to disclose details when Sunak appointed him to his current position.

"Following the completion of an independent advisory investigation, it is clear that there has been a serious breach of the Ministerial Code," PM Sunak said in a letter to Zahawi, reported Reuters January 30.

"Consequently, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty's Government," he continued.

Zahawi's response to Sunak made no mention of the HMRC investigation or independent counsel. He expressed concern over the behavior of some media outlets in recent weeks, saying he would support PM Sunak's agenda as a member of parliament.

"I apologize to my family for the loss they have suffered," he said.

It is a setback for Sunak's attempts to reorganize the government, after a tumultuous year with three different British prime ministers. An investigation into alleged intimidation by Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab is ongoing and could cause further headaches.

A Conservative lawmaker said Zahawi's dismissal was "obviously the right decision," adding Zahawi "should have resigned to avoid embarrassment."

"Raab is a bit different," said the lawmaker who declined to be named.

"One person's bullying is another's firm direction." Raab has denied the intimidation allegations.

Separately, the opposition Labor Party said PM Sunak had shown weakness in his handling of the Zahawi and Raab cases.

Nadhim Zahawi. (Wikimedia Commons/IAEA Imagebank)

"It is important that we now get answers to what Rishi Sunak knew and when he found out," Labor spokeswoman Bridget Phillipson said Sunday.

Zahawi's dismissal comes as Sunak's government, facing decades of high inflation and a wave of public sector strikes, is trailing far in opinion polls ahead of the expected 2024 election.

Magnus said the details of HMRC's own investigation - into Zahawi's 2000 co-foundation of polling company YouGov, and how many shares his father took to support its launch - were beyond the scope of his own investigation.

However, he found that Zahawi had failed to certify an HMRC investigation into the affair, or acknowledge that it was a serious matter. Zahawi characterized last July's report on his tax affairs as "obviously dirty".

Zahawi did not correct the record until last week, when he said he had reached an agreement with the authorities.

"I consider the delay in correcting this untrue public statement to be inconsistent with the requirement of transparency," Magnus said in a letter to PM Sunak.

He added that Zahawi had shown a "lack of concern" for the requirement "to be an honest, open and exemplary leader through his own behavior."

When he succeeded Liz Truss as prime minister after his brief but tumultuous reign, Sunak promised that "this government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level."

Asked whether Conservative politicians consistently followed their own rules, senior minister Michael Gove said "there are always people who fall short."

"Because someone commits a mistake or sin, that shouldn't automatically be taken as an opportunity to condemn an ​​entire organization," he told the BBC.