Nadhim Zahawi to stand down as Conservative MP at election

Nadhim Zahawi served as Conservative Party chairman and minister without portfolio in Rishi Sunak's government

Former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has said he will stand down as an MP at the next election.

"My mistakes have been mine," he announced on X in a lengthy statement.

Mr Zahawi was sacked as Tory Party chairman in January last year after an inquiry found he had failed to disclose that HMRC was investigating his tax affairs.

He has been MP for Stratford-on-Avon for 14 years and said it had been his "greatest honour" to serve its people.

Mr Zahawi is the 64th Conservative MP to announce he'll stand down at the next election, and the 104th MP.

Referring to the role as the "MP for Shakespeare" he said: "As my most famous constituent once wrote: 'Go to your bosom; knock there and ask your heart what it doth know'.

"I have come to feel that the time is right for a new, energetic Conservative to fight for the honour of representing Stratford-on-Avon and assuming the mantle of MP for Shakespeare."

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'I have to pinch myself'

Mr Zahawi was education secretary from September 2021 to July 2022 and had a short stint as chancellor of the exchequer between July and September 2022.

In November 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, he was appointed vaccines minister and oversaw the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine programme for nearly a year.

Born in Iraq in 1967, he could have been sent to fight in the 1980s Iran-Iraq War but instead he and his parents fled Iraq and he grew up in the UK.

In his statement on X, Mr Zahawi said: "Every morning as I shave my head in the mirror, I have to pinch myself. How is it that a boy from Baghdad who came to these shores, fleeing persecution and unable to speak a word of English, was able to do as much as I have?"

He said helping his constituents in their time of need "remains one of the most meaningful things I have ever done" and pledged the Conservative Party "will continue to have my unswerving support into and beyond the next general election".

Mr Zahawi made his fortune after co-founding the online polling company YouGov in 2000 and is believed to be one of the richest politicians in the House of Commons.

'Mortified by this mistake'

His political career started when he was elected as a Wandsworth councillor in 1994, being re-elected three times, and unsuccessfully contesting the Erith and Thamesmead seat in 1997 before being elected as the MP for Stratford-upon-Avon in 2010.

A keen equestrian, Mr Zahawi had to apologise for claiming parliamentary expenses for electricity to supply his stables and a mobile home in the stable yard in 2013, saying he was "mortified by this mistake" and paying back about £4,000.

He began to climb the ministerial ladder when Theresa May made him an education minister and was known as a safe pair of hands.

This opened the door for him to become chancellor when Mr Sunak dramatically quit the role in July 2022, during the mass resignations that forced Boris Johnson out of Downing Street.

Mr Zahawi was given the role due to his robust defence of Mr Johnson but, after a few days, he too called on Mr Johnson to leave.

After unsuccessfully bidding to replace Mr Johnson as the next Tory leader, he backed Liz Truss and then Mr Sunak, who made him Conservative Party chair when he became prime minister.

It was during Mr Zahawi's period as chancellor when questions were raised about the sale of shares in YouGov and whether this was taxed correctly, which eventually led to Mr Sunak sacking him for a serious breach of the ministerial code.

Stratford Can, a group of disgruntled former Conservative members who formed a group intending to run an alternative conservative candidate against Mr Zahawi at the next election, welcomed the move.

Spokesman David Spencer said: "That his resignation statement fails to mention a single meaningful achievement that he has delivered for this town during his 14 years as MP says everything about his negligible tenure as our local MP."