Sunday morning, prime minister Rishi Sunak, at his constituency home in the Yorkshire Dales, received a report that sealed Nadhim Zahawi’s fate.
It confirmed what the opposition MPs, many media and countless voters have guessed: that the Conservative chair has not acted honorably in handling tax matters.
A report by Sir Laurie Magnus, the ethics adviser, found several breaches of the ministerial code between 2021 and 2022, forcing the prime minister to sack MPs who defended him in parliament less than two weeks earlier.
The findings led to further questions about whether Sunak had inquired deeply into Zahawi’s tax affairs, and whether the prime minister could draw the line under allegations of “Tory sleaze”.
Lord Gavin Barwell, a former chief of staff in Downing Street, said the prime minister had handled the problem “in the right way”, but added: “Many Conservative MPs are thinking about the politics of taking too long to solve the problem.”
George Osborne, the former Tory chancellor, told Channel 4 on Sunday afternoon that the scandal was like the 1990s under former prime minister John Major.
“Major is very happy, energetic, like Rishi Sunak, but ultimately unable to escape the downward pull of the Tory party . . . he [Sunak] know that with each passing week, with each new scandal unfolding, the window for action is getting smaller and smaller.
Commissioned less than a week ago by the prime minister, the investigation by Magnus revealed how the former Tory leader had breached the ministerial code by failing to disclose details of his dispute, and eventual £5 million settlement, with the tax authority.
Not only did he fail to share with his colleagues that HMRC was investigating him, but he also asserted, wrongly, that the journalist’s question was a “smear”, issuing legal threats.
Baghdad-born Zahawi made a fortune in business as the founder of pollster YouGov before his election as Tory MP for Stratford-on-Avon in 2010.
In the past year, he has held several cabinet jobs – education, chancellor, Cabinet Office and chair – but he admitted in his resignation letter on Sunday that his future now lies on the backbenches.
The prime minister, who colleagues say has sacked Zahawi more out of sadness than anger, still faces questions from the opposition Labor Party about what he knows about the affair.
The Magnus Report said Zahawi failed to disclose “the nature of the investigation and its outcome” in September and October last year, when the MP was given two separate cabinet roles.
But the phrasing of the report allows for the possibility that either former prime minister Liz Truss or her successor Sunak – or both – knew in general about the HMRC investigation.
The Labor leadership has written to Sunak asking when he became aware of the HMRC investigation; why he stated at Prime Minister’s Questions on 18 January that all questions on the issue had been answered; and what he discussed with Zahawi before appointing him.
Number 10 said Sunak was confident that “there are no outstanding issues”. A new Conservative seat could be appointed as early as this week.
By jettisoning Zahawi, Sunak hopes to exonerate his party from continuing scandalous allegations. He hopes to focus on his priorities of ending the NHS crisis, reducing inflation and dealing with migrants crossing the English Channel.
But government insiders admit they still feel “besieged” – in one word – by rolling scandals involving senior Conservative MPs who could predate Sunak’s premiership but are still corroding it.
Labor insists that Sunak is “weak” and has not kept his promise to instill “integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level” of his government.
Labor MPs questioned why Sunak sacked Zahawi but re-appointed Suella Braverman as home secretary in October, just days after she breached the ministerial code by using a private email to send a draft government statement to political allies.
The next controversy is that of Dominic Raab, deputy prime minister and justice secretary, who faces serious bullying allegations, which he denies.
The official inquiry into Raab, ordered by Sunak and led by employment lawyer Adam Tolley KC, will examine more than eight historical complaints involving more than 24 civil servants.
Raab vowed to “dispute and refute” the claims, saying he would “act professionally” at all times.
Meanwhile, the scandal involving Boris Johnson, who in July announced he would step down as prime minister after a rebellion by Tory MPs, still casts a shadow.
Johnson, now a backbench MP, will soon be called to a televised hearing as the privileges committee investigates whether he lied to MPs about the “partygate” affair, when 83 staff were fined for attending a Downing Street party during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The committee, which has a Tory majority but is chaired by veteran Labor MP Harriet Harman, is looking into whether Johnson deliberately misled parliament when he told the Commons “all guidance was fully followed” by staff working in Whitehall at the time.
If the committee finds him in contempt of parliament, he can be suspended from the Commons. If he is suspended for more than 10 days, a “recall petition” could be triggered and a potential by-election.
Johnson’s chaotic personal finances have caused controversy over the receipt of a loan of up to £800,000 – while at Number 10 – from Sam Blyth, a Canadian businessman and distant cousin, after receiving advice from Richard Sharp – who was later appointed chairman of the BBC. .
Johnson said Sharp had no knowledge of his personal finances. But a leaked memo, published by the Sunday Times, says that cabinet secretary Simon Case has warned the prime minister: “Given the announcement of Richard Sharp as the new chairman of the BBC, it is important that you no longer ask about your personal financial matters.”
Sharp’s appointment is now under scrutiny by the BBC and William Shawcross, the commissioner for public appointments.
“Sometimes I feel like we’re all in a boat and we’re just being hit by strong winds and high waves,” one backbench MP said on Sunday. “I hope we can find our direction again.”