Struggling to dispel an ethical cloud that has hung over his government, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday fired the chairman of Britain’s Conservative Party, Nadhim Zahawi, over his personal tax affairs.
Mr. Sunak acted after his ethics adviser concluded that Mr. Zahawi’s failure to promptly disclose an inquiry into his taxes — which resulted in a settlement and penalty with the British tax authority estimated to be roughly 5 million pounds (about $6.2 million) — was a “serious breach” of the ministerial code.
In a briskly worded letter to Mr. Zahawi, whom he also fired from an accompanying role as a government minister, Mr. Sunak said he had promised voters when he became prime minister in October that “the government I lead would have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.”
As a result of the ethics investigation, conducted by a government adviser, Laurie Magnus, the prime minister wrote, “I have informed you of my decision to remove you from your position in His Majesty’s government.”
The ouster of Mr. Zahawi, a wealthy businessman of Iraqi Kurdish descent who served previously as chancellor of the Exchequer, is a stinging blow to Mr. Sunak. The prime minister rose to power by helping topple a scandal-scarred predecessor, Boris Johnson, but his government has been unable to shake off many of the same ethics problems that haunted Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Zahawi, 55, is the second minister in three months to be forced out over accusations of wrongdoing. Gavin Williamson resigned in November as a minister without portfolio after accusations of bullying.
Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister, is under investigation for multiple charges that he bullied civil servants while serving as foreign secretary and justice secretary in a previous government. The home secretary, Suella Braverman, was fired from an earlier stint in the post over allegations of mishandling an official document.
Even Mr. Sunak has become a serial offender, if on matters that are less grave than those facing his ministers. He was fined recently by the police in Lancashire, in northwest England, after being filmed not wearing a seatbelt in the back of his official car. Last year, he and Mr. Johnson were fined for breaching pandemic lockdown restrictions by attending a social gathering in Downing Street at a time when such gatherings were banned.
For Mr. Sunak, the latest scandal will make it even harder for him to pivot to fixing Britain’s faltering economy. His Conservative Party is already lagging the opposition Labour Party by double digits in some polls. Accusations of “Tory sleaze” are a daily staple in the British news media — one reason that support for the Conservatives has collapsed since Mr. Johnson won a landslide general election victory in 2019.