Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sacked Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi amid a major row over his tax affairs.
Mr Zahawi admitted to paying a penalty to resolve a multimillion-pound tax dispute - including a penalty - to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) while he was chancellor. He has faced increasing pressure to quit in recent days.
Questions have been raised "about the exact allocation" of shares in the YouGov polling company he co-founded, an error he said was "careless" not deliberate. The settlement was reported to be around £4.8m, however Mr Zahawi has not disclosed this information.
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In a letter to the former Tory Chancellor published on Sunday morning, Mr Sunak said it is "clear that there has been a serious breach of the Ministerial Code".
Earlier this week Mr Sunak had resisted earlier calls from opposition parties to sack Mr Zahawi and instead asked his new ethics adviser to assess whether the HMRC settlement amounted to a breach of the ministerial code. Labour, the Lib Dems and a former Tory minister had publicly called for him to go.
Mr Sunak told Zahawi he should be “extremely proud” of his achievements in government in the last five years including his oversight of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
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