Tory Chairman sacked

Nadhim Zahawi has been sacked as Tory party chairman after an ethics inquiry into the handling of his tax affairs found a "serious breach" of the ministerial code.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had resisted earlier calls from opposition parties to sack Mr Zahawi as Tory party chairman following reports that he had paid a penalty as part of an estimated £4.8m settlement dispute with HMRC. He had instead asked his new ethics adviser - Sir Laurie Magnus - to assess whether the settlement amounted to a breach of the ministerial code.
In a letter written by Sir Laurie to the PM this morning following the conclusion of the investigation, the ethics adviser said Mr Zahawi had "shown insufficient regard for the general principles of the ministerial code" and had not fulfilled the requirements of being an "honest, open and an exemplary leader". In a second letter written by the PM to Mr Zahawi following Sir Laurie's findings, Mr Sunak said it is "clear that there has been a serious breach of the ministerial code" and announced the removal of the Tory chairman from his ministerial position.
Mr Zahawi had faced pressure in recent days to quit as questions swirled about his finances even after he released a statement to "clear up some of the confusion". He admitted he paid what HMRC said "was due" after it "disagreed about the exact allocation" of shares in the YouGov polling company he co-founded - an error he said was "careless, not deliberate".
But he did not disclose the size of the settlement or whether he paid a fine.