In a lengthy statement shared on social media platform X, former chancellor of the exchequer and Conservative Party chairman Nadhim Zahawi has announced his intention to step down as MP at the next election. Zahawi has held the position of MP for Stratford-on-Avon for the past 14 years, saying it has been “his greatest honour” to serve its people. Born in Iraq, Zahawi escaped the 1980s Iran-Iraq War by migrating to the UK with his parents.
Zahawi served as education secretary from September 2021 to July 2022, and had a brief 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, overseeing the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine programme for nearly a year. Zahawi, who made his fortune after co-founding the online polling company YouGov in 2000, is believed to be one of the richest politicians in the House of Commons.
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 began his political career as a Wandsworth councillor in 1994, being re-elected three times. He unsuccessfully contested the Erith and Thamesmead seat in 1997 before being elected as MP for Stratford-upon-Avon in 2010. Zahawi was also known for his keen interest in equestrian activities, having apologised in 2013 for claiming parliamentary expenses for electricity to supply his stables and a mobile home in the stable yard.
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer thanked his constituents and has pledged the Conservative Party “will continue to have my unswerving support into and beyond the next general election”. Referring to his 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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