UK PM Sunak sacks party chairman Zahawi over tax affairs

FILE PHOTO: British Minister without Portfolio Nadhim Zahawi looks on outside the Conservative Party's headquarters in London, Britain January 23, 2023. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls

LONDON (Reuters) -British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sacked Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi on Sunday after an investigation found he committed a serious breach by not being open about a tax probe, the latest scandal to hit one of Sunak's top ministers.

Sunak had initially stood by Zahawi before ordering an independent adviser to investigate questions over his tax affairs after it emerged Zahawi had settled a probe by Britain's tax authority HMRC last year.