Nadhim Zahawi: Former chancellor and vaccines minister will stand down at general election
Former COVID vaccines minister and chancellor Nadhim Zahawi has announced he will not be standing at the next general election.
The Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010 quoted his “most famous constituent” as he wrote: “Go to your bosom; knock there and ask your heart what it doth know.”
He said: “The time is right for a new, energetic Conservative to fight for the honour of representing Stratford-on-Avon.”
“Parting is such sweet sorrow,” he added, referencing Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet.
Mr Zahawi is the 65th Conservative MP to announce he will not be standing at the next general election, which is expected this year.
He was responsible for the COVID vaccine roll-out and was chancellor for two months over the summer of 2022. He was also education secretary for 10 months before that.
The MP stood to succeed Boris Johnson as Conservative leader but was eliminated from the ballot after the first round of voting and then supported Liz Truss, who made him Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, intergovernmental relations minister and equalities minister.
Mr Zahawi said in his statement: “My mistakes have been mine, and my successes have come from working with, and leading, amazing people.”
He also thanked his family and friends, and especially his wife Lana, for their love.
Nadhim Zahawi was the COVID vaccines minister, responsible for its roll-out
The MP was made Conservative Party chairman by Rishi Sunak but was dismissed for failing to disclose he was being investigated by HMRC and the National Crime Agency over a multi-million pound tax dispute related to the sale of shares in his polling firm YouGov while he was chancellor.
He said he had made a “careless and not deliberate” error after initially saying he had no knowledge of the investigation and had “paid all taxes”.
The 56-year-old was born in Baghdad, Iraq, but his family fled the country under Saddam Hussein to live in London when he was 11-years-old.
He added: “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?
“For all our challenges, this is the best country on Earth, and it helped me make my British dream come true. It was where I built a Great British business, YouGov, and it was where I raised my wonderful family.”
Mr Zahawi at a Cabinet meeting with Boris Johnson
The MP said he felt “immensely privileged” to have served “my country across government”, as he listed his roles, including being responsible for coordinating the Queen’s funeral.
Mr Zahawi found himself unable to enter the United States to visit his children at university in 2017 after then US President Donald Trump banned travellers from some Muslim majority countries, because he was born in Iraq.
He recently made a surprise appearance in an ITV drama about the Post Office IT scandal, playing himself questioning then Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells in a Commons committee inquiry.
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The defence secretary has said he is “angry inside” over the infected blood scandal ahead of a long-waited report into the decades-long injustice.
Grant Shapps told Sky News he agreed it had been one of the most “shameful failures” of government and said he was dismayed by the “lack of anybody taking responsibility”.
The findings of a public inquiry into the scandal, chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, are due to be published on Monday.
From 1970 to the 1990s, tens of thousands of people were infected with contaminated blood through blood products or blood transfusions given via the NHS. People were infected with hepatitis or HIV – in some cases with both.
An estimated 3,000 people died as a result.
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Mr Shapps told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips that the scandal was a “massive injustice which needs to be put right” and said the government would act on the report.
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Thousands of people died after being given infected blood
He said that while he was yet to see the report, he hoped it would finally allow families’ pain and loss to be acknowledged and for the government to properly respond.
Mr Shapps said he had spoken to relatives of several victims, including a couple who had lost their son, and said their stories made feel him “angry inside”.
He added: “It just made me angry to know they had lost their son without anyone ever taking responsibility, so I think this is why this report tomorrow is very important.”
Successive governments have been blamed for failing to take responsibility and the current government has been accused of trying to delay compensation to victims after an inquiry was first set up by Theresa May in 2017.
It is estimated that the compensation bill could now exceed £10m.
The defence secretary admitted the process of delivering payouts to victims had gone on for “so long”.
He added: “This is a massive injustice which needs to be put right.
“And I know the government said we will. The report tomorrow, I think, will be the day for that family and others and I know the government will want to respond quickly.”
Asked whether Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would apologise to the victims, Mr Shapps said: “I don’t want to mislead because I don’t have special insight into that.”
Read more:
Boy, 7, was used in secret blood trials, parents say
Doctor’s horror over scandal
Blood donations ‘collected from UK prisons’
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Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting also told Trevor Phillips that he expected “successive governments” to be criticised in the report by Sir Brian.
“Everyone has got their responsibility to bear in this appalling scandal and we have got a shared responsibility to put it right,” he said.
“The moment to act can’t come soon enough.”
Sir Brian is due to deliver his final report just after midday on Monday.
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