Scandal and the British Conservative Party: Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs
On January 29, Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, removed Nadhim Zahawi from his position as Chairman of the Conservative Party after allegations surrounding his tax affairs. Zahawi is alleged to have reached an agreement in September 2022 with HMRC, Britain’s tax body, over his avoidance of tax for £3.7m in addition to a 30 per cent penalty. While the former Chairman of the Conservatives claimed he had made a ‘careless rather than deliberate error’ in his taxes, the head of HMRC has refuted Zahawi’s claim, stating that, ‘there are no penalties for innocent errors in your tax affairs’. Beyond the political difficulties facing Sunak in having a cabinet minister not paying the appropriate taxes, Zahawi is also alleged to have broken the ministerial code seven times through his failure to disclose his settlement with HMRC during the recruitment process for various cabinet positions. Sunak promised ‘integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level’ at the beginning of his term, making the decision to sack Zahawi a clear one. However, critics of Sunak, including those among his own ranks, have challenged him for taking too long to make this decision.
The Zahawi scandal is the latest of a series of scandals currently facing the Conservatives. Justice Secretary Dominic Raab is currently facing a probe over allegations of bullying. Twenty-four civil servants are part of the complaints process, describing Raab as ‘randomly rude and abrasive’. These public servants have also described a ‘perverse culture of fear’ curated by Raab in the Department of Justice, with some civil servants seeking medical treatment for stress. The allegations against Raab are part of a pattern of bullying in the Conservative Party amongst cabinet ministers. In November 2022, Gavin Williamson was forced into resigning after he told a civil servant to ‘slit your throat’. Additionally, texts were leaked in which Williamson used aggressive language towards the Chief Whip as a result of Williamson’s not being invited to the Queen’s funeral. Former Home Secretary, Priti Patel, was also judged to have broken the ministerial code through her mistreatment of public servants in her department.
Historical patterns of scandal continue to trouble the Conservative Party, running much deeper and spanning beyond bullying. The most prominent of these historical scandals hanging over the Conservative Party is the series of parties held in Downing Street during the height of the Covid pandemic and lockdown restrictions. Dubbed ‘partygate’, 12 illegal gatherings were held, in which Covid regulations were repeatedly broken. An investigation into the parties highlighted that wine was being wheeled into Downing Street by the suitcase and spilled on the walls. This story is expected to come to a head over in the week of March 20th when Boris Johnson faces a committee over allegations he misled the house of commons over his denials early on in the scandal that there had been no parties and no rules had been broken.
But what has caused such a fall in standards in British politics? The Brexit referendum saw the onset of populism in British politics, with a series of falsities being promoted to sway the referendum in the Leave campaign’s favour. Promises of £350 million per week for the NHS if Britain left the European Union as well as the supposed ‘threat’ of Turkey joining the EU went largely unchecked by the media. The rise in partisanship in the media has also contributed to less effective media scrutiny of the government, allowing for lying, misrepresentation, and dishonesty to become normalized in British politics.
Dishonesty and scandal are not just a problem within the United Kingdom. Globally, patterns have emerged of world leaders telling lies and behaving inappropriately which has been legitimised by the press or other public figures. For example, Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen has been propagated by the MAGA faction of the Republican Party. Figures such as Marjorie Taylor Greene continue to amplify this message. In addition to this, the Trump presidency also oversaw a period of successive scandals. For example, Trump described white supremacists protesting in Charlottesville as ‘very fine people’. This demonstrates a drop in standards and increase in scandal can be observed around the world, and not just in Britain.