On which of the following, proved charges the Finance Minister Nadhim Zahawi was sacked from the Government in February, 2023 by the British P.M. Rishi Sunak?
- (a)Disclosure of Secrecy of the Cabinet
- (b)Sex Scandal
- (c)Tax Scandal
- (d)None of the above
Correct — C, Tax Scandal. UK PM Rishi Sunak sacked Nadhim Zahawi in late January 2023 (early 2023) after his ethics adviser found a ‘serious breach’ of the Ministerial Code over Zahawi’s tax affairs — an out-of-court settlement with HMRC that included a penalty, and his failure to disclose the HMRC investigation while he was Chancellor. The proven charge was therefore a tax scandal.
- (a)Disclosure of Secrecy of the Cabinet — Zahawi was not removed for leaking cabinet secrets; the finding against him concerned his personal tax affairs and non-disclosure of an HMRC inquiry.
- (b)Sex Scandal — His dismissal had nothing to do with a sex scandal; the Ministerial Code breach related to his tax settlement with HMRC.
- (d)None of the above — Incorrect — option (c), the tax scandal, is the actual proven charge, so ‘None of the above’ does not apply.
Nadhim Zahawi, a senior UK Conservative politician (Chancellor of the Exchequer in mid-2022, then Minister without Portfolio and party chairman under Sunak), was dismissed after the PM’s independent ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus concluded he had committed serious breaches of the Ministerial Code by failing to be open about a settlement with the tax authority HMRC over his tax affairs.
The question labels it ‘February 2023’, but the sacking actually came on 29 January 2023 — either way it is an early-2023 current-affairs item. All the distractors are plausible ‘scandal’ types, so the recall needed is the specific reason: undisclosed tax problems, i.e., a tax scandal.
- Nadhim Zahawi was sacked by PM Rishi Sunak on 29 January 2023.
- Cause: a ‘serious breach’ of the Ministerial Code over his tax affairs (HMRC settlement with a penalty).
- The ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus found multiple breaches, including non-disclosure of the HMRC investigation.
- Zahawi had briefly been Chancellor of the Exchequer in 2022 before this episode.
- Assuming a dramatic ‘sex’ or ‘secrecy’ scandal when the cause was tax non-disclosure
- Misdating the event — it occurred at the end of January 2023
UPSC/UPPSC current-affairs items ask who held a post, why an official resigned/was removed, or to match a personality with a recent event.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Nadhim Zahawi, sacked from the UK government in early 2023, had earlier briefly held which office?
- (a)Foreign Secretary
- (b)Chancellor of the Exchequer
- (c)Home Secretary
- (d)Prime Minister
Answer(b) Chancellor of the Exchequer — he held it briefly in 2022 before his 2023 dismissal over tax affairs.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The set of rules of conduct that Nadhim Zahawi was found to have breached, leading to his dismissal, is known in the UK as the:
- (a)Ministerial Code
- (b)Official Secrets Act
- (c)Nolan Principles Act
- (d)Representation of the People Act
Answer(a) Ministerial Code — the ethics adviser found serious breaches of it over his tax affairs.