Had things been a little different, Nadhim Zahawi, rather than Rishi Sunak, might have become Britain’s first non-white prime minister. Tory politics were unusually chaotic and febrile last summer, after all, and it didn’t seem such an outlandish prospect. However, a story in The Independent on 9 July that revealed he was being investigated by the tax authorities threw sufficient doubt on Zahawi’s candidacy that he failed to get further than the first round.
He did still win the support of 25 Conservative MPs, beating Jeremy Hunt into last place on 18, but it was nowhere near enough for him to carry on. Perhaps, all things considered, it is just as well that he didn’t make it to No 10.
