Rishi Sunak should “encourage” Nadhim Zahawi to resign ahead of what will be a “very uncomfortable” Prime Minister’s Questions at noon, a former Tory Cabinet minister has said.
David Gauke, the ex-justice secretary who stepped down as an MP in 2019, said it is “hard to see” how the row over Mr Zahawi’s tax affairs “doesn’t ultimately end” in him stepping down as Tory chairman.
Mr Gauke was asked during an interview on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme if he was Mr Zahawi if he would think today is the day to resign and he said: “I think I would be very tempted to and if I was the prime minister I think I would be keen to encourage it.
"I think it is going to be very uncomfortable for Rishi Sunak at 12 o’clock today if Nadhim Zahawi is still in place.”
He added: “There are just too many impossible questions for him and the longer this drags on the more difficult it is for the Prime Minister, the more difficult it is for the Conservative Party, probably more difficult it is for Nadhim Zahawi."
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to seize on the issue at PMQs, with Mr Sunak likely to face questions over what he knew when he appointed Mr Zahawi to his role as Tory chairman.
Mr Sunak said there were “questions that need answering” after he ordered his ethics adviser to investigate whether Mr Zahawi broke ministerial rules over an estimated £4.8 million bill he settled with HMRC while chancellor.
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