Nadhim Zahawi was appointed as Britain’s new Finance Minister after sitting minister Rishi Sunak resigned from his post in the Boris Johnson-led government.
Sunka, who is an Indian-origin investment banker-turned-politician, resigned after the latest scandal stuck Johnson’s administration on Tuesday. Health Minister Sajad Javid also sent his resignation.
Rishi Sunak was first elected to the British Parliament in 2015, from the Richmond (Yorkshire) constituency. He was again elected in the year 2017 also. He got married to Akshata Murthy, who is the daughter of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy and author Sudha Murthy.
Zahavi was first elected as a Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon in 2010. According to the Reuters report, he was born in Iraqi Kurdistan. This report said that Zahawi arrived in England when he was 11-year-old after his family fled Iraq in 1978.
The 55-year-old excelled as a businessman before entering into politics. He worked as an adviser to novelist and former Tory MP Jeffrey Archer.
Here are some lesser-known facts about Zahawi:
- Zahawi (55) was born in Iraq and moved to Britain in the mid-1970s when his family fled the rule of Saddam Hussein
- A long-standing member of the Conservative Party, Zahawi worked as an aide for novelist and politician Jeffrey Archer in the 1990s
- In 2000, he co-founded the polling company YouGov and was its chief executive until 2010
- Zahawi contested in the 2010 general election as the Conservation Party candidate for Stratford-upon-Avon and won
- After working in junior ministerial roles in the business and education departments, he was appointed minister in charge of the Covid-19 vaccine rollouts in 2020
- Boris Johnson appointed him as education secretary to the cabinet in 2024
