New Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi said the reason he has taken the job is he believes the team in Government will “deliver”, adding “there are no easy answers”.
Mr Zahawi was given the job last night following the resignation of Rishi Sunak from the key Government role. Mr Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid were the highest-profile resignations amongst a raft of people protesting the Government's handling of recent crises - including the news around deputy chief whip Chris Pincher's inappropriate behaviour.
Mr Zahawi told Sky News: “You don’t go into this job to have an easy life. You make some tough decisions every day. Sometimes it’s easy to walk away but actually it’s much tougher to deliver for the country.”
Mr Zahawi, who was promoted from his education secretary role following the resignation of Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, said: “You’re asking me a question about why I’m doing this job.
“I’m doing it because I think the team that is in Government today is the team that will deliver, that will deliver today a tax cut for 30 million people, £330 today, as we’ve moved the threshold of national insurance.”
He added: “There’s some big challenges facing us. I want to make sure we deal with those challenges.”
Yesterday it emerged that Prime Minister Boris Johnson knew about allegations against Chris Pincher, who groped two men, when he gave him the job, Mr Johnson previously denied knowing.
Mr Zahawi has denied that he threatened to resign from the Cabinet in order to secure the Chancellor role.
He told Sky News: “No, I didn’t threaten to resign at all.”
Put to him that Liz Truss was reportedly in line for Chancellor, but Mr Zahawi said he would step down if he did not get the job, he said: “That is not true.”
Mr Zahawi was previously Education Secretary.
Mr Zahawi has said his reason for taking the role of Chancellor was not to do with personal ambition.
Asked if he will run for leader when there is a vacancy, he told Sky News: “There is no vacancy.”
Put to him the odds are good for him at the moment, he said: “First of all, I will be working very hard to make sure that this team continues to deliver. The Prime Minister is focused on delivery, delivery, delivery.”
Pressed on whether his reason for taking the job was to do with personal ambition, he said: “No, as I said to you, sometimes walking away may give you some respite, dare I say, but the idea that you have to deliver for the country, I think, is the right thing to do.”
Mr Zahawi has said he is going to “look at everything” when asked about his tax plans.
The new Chancellor said “nothing’s off the table” when pressed on his vision for corporation tax.
Asked what immediate plans he had made with the Prime Minister when it came to cutting taxes and tackling inflation, he told Sky News: “As my first day in the job, the conversation we had is my task is to rebuild the economy and to grow the economy.
“I will look at everything to make sure that we continue to be on the side of people.”
Pressed on his plans for corporation tax specifically, he said: “I will look at everything. There’s nothing off the table. I want to be one of the most competitive countries in the world for investment.
“I know that boards around the world, when they make investment decisions, they’re long-term, and the one tax they can compare globally is corporation tax. I want to make sure that we are as competitive as we can be whilst maintaining fiscal discipline.”
