British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has sacked Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi after an ethics inquiry into the handling of his tax affairs found a “serious breach” of the rules guiding ministers. Zahawi, who was appointed to the role by the prime minister last October, had been facing calls to stand aside after Sunak ordered the inquiry into the former chancellor’s taxes. The Tory chairman had faced damaging reports that he had settled an estimated 4.8-million-pound bill (US$5.9-million) with the HM Revenue & Customs tax office while he was chancellor, including paying a penalty. Pressure on ministers grew after HMRC boss Jim Harra told lawmakers there are “no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs”. The rapid conclusion of the ethic investigation by Sir Laurie Magnus, the prime minister’s independent adviser on ministers’ interests, came after Sunak resisted calls to sack his party colleague immediately and instead stressed the need for “due process”. But in a letter published on Sunday morning and following the Magnus inquiry, Sunak told Zahawi that he believed he had committed a “serious breach of the Ministerial Code”. “As a result, I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty’s Government.” In the letter, Sunak told the Tory MP: “When I became prime minister last year, I pledged that the government I lead would have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.” Nadhim Zahawi’s position ‘untenable’ after tax dispute, says Labour In his reply to the prime minister, Zahawi did not explicitly refer to the findings of the inquiry. The row surrounding Zahawi had centred on a tax bill over the sale of shares in YouGov – the polling firm he founded – worth an estimated £27 million (US$40 million) and which were held by Balshore Investments, a company registered offshore in Gibraltar and linked to Zahawi’s family. Zahawi, who has been MP for Stratford-upon-Avon since 2010, had said that the tax office concluded there had been a “careless and not deliberate” error in the way the founders’ shares, which he had allocated to his father, had been treated. He had also insisted he was “confident” he had “acted properly throughout”. On Sunday, he told Sunak that he was concerned “about the conduct from some of the fourth estate in recent weeks”, in a reference to the media. He said: “It has been, after being blessed with my loving family, the privilege of my life to serve in successive governments and make what I believe to have been a tangible difference to the country I love.” In comments which appear to indicate that the former chancellor holds out little prospect of returning to office in the years to come, he said: “You can be assured of my support from the backbenches in the coming years. Your five priorities are the right priorities, and I will do whatever I can to help you deliver them.” Magnus’ four-page report, dated January 29, said the technical details of the HMRC investigation were outside his scope. Instead, he considered Mr Zahawi’s “handling of the matter in light of his responsibilities as a minister”. In that regard, he found that the Conservative chairman had shown “insufficient regard for the general principles of the Ministerial Code and the requirements in particular, under the seven Principles of Public Life, to be honest, open and an exemplary leader through his own behaviour”. Among the findings, he notes “omissions” from Zahawi that amount to a “serious failure” to meet the standards for ministers. He said: “In the appointments process for the governments formed in September 2022 and October 2022, Mr Zahawi failed to disclose relevant information – in this case the nature of the< investigation and its outcome in a penalty – at the time of his appointment, including to Cabinet Office officials who support that process. Without knowledge of that information, the Cabinet Office was not in a position to inform the appointing prime minister.”