Majority of voters say Zahawi should resign over tax row, in poll by firm he co-founded

More than half of Britons say Nadhim Zahawi should resign from his role as Tory chairman, according to a poll by a firm he helped found.

YouGov found 51 per cent of people surveyed believe he should step down, compared to just 12 per cent who think he should stay in his role.

Mr Zahawi helped launch YouGov in 2000. Started in his garden shed, it now employs more than 400 people across three continents. His own website boasts that YouGov became famous for the “accuracy of its political polling”.

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The former chancellor floated the company on the London Stock Exchange in 2005, later standing down in January 2010 to run for election as MP for Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Independent first revealed last July Mr Zahawi was being investigated by HMRC over the sale of shares in YouGov.

This week it was revealed Mr Zahawi had paid a penalty to settle the tax dispute. Between July and September 2022, the Tory party chairman was ordered to pay close to £5m in total, including a 30 per cent penalty fee whilst he was Chancellor.

Mr Zahawi said his error was “careless and not deliberate” and maintains he “acted properly throughout”, resisting cross-party calls for him to stand down.

Labour Chair, Anneliese Dodds, argued Mr Zahawi should publish his tax returns documenting his take-home in 2018 in an attempt to clear up the row. That was the year that a stake in YouGov was sold by a trust registered in Gibraltar linked to Mr Zahawi.

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Rishi Sunak has said he was unaware of the tax probe and has since ordered new ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus CBE to examine Zahawi’s tax affairs as “clearly... there are questions that need answering.”

However, Jeremy Quin, Conservative MP for Horsham, revealed in the Commons on Monday the Prime Minister would have had “full disclosure” regarding the interests of Mr Zahawi when he appointed him chairman of the Conservative Party.

Sir Laurie Magnus plans to publish an updated list of ministerial interests prior to his report in May, with Mr Zahawi “welcoming” the Prime Minister’s referral for investigation.