'Parting is such a sweet sorrow.'
Nadhim Zahawi, a Tory MP who has served in four prime minister’s cabinets including as chancellor, will not stand in the next general election.
Having represented Stratford-on-Avon since 2010, he said today he ‘had come to feel that the time is right for a new, energetic Conservative to represent’ the West Midlands constituency.
He said in a statement posted on X today: ‘With the exception of convincing my wife to marry me, it has been the greatest honour of my life to represent the people of Stratford-on-Avon and service as a Minister of the Crown.
‘But after 14 years in Parliament and multiple roles in Cabinet and government, I have come to the decision not to stand again in the next general election.
‘Every morning, I shave my head in the mirror, I have to pinch myself. How is it that a boy from Baghdad who came to these shores, fleeing persecution and unable to speak a word of English, was able to do as much as I have?’
He added: ‘Parting is such a sweet sorrow.’
His decision not to stand in the general elections comes after the Conservative Party suffered hundreds of bruising defeats in the local elections.
Widely seen as a barometer for how the Tories will fair in the general elections, countless Tory councillors, mayors and police commissioners saw their voters swing to opposition parties last week.
He is now the 64th Tory MP to announce he will not be standing in the next general election.
Polls suggested he was on course to lose his seat, with Stratford-on-Avon being a Tory stronghold since 1950.
Hundreds of locals have been petitioning for his de-selection.
Quoting William Shakespeare, Zahawi said: ‘As my most famous constituent once wrote: “Go to your bosom; knock there and ask your heart what it doth know.”‘
Zahawi has on his parliamentary CV, among other things, chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson for two entire months in 2022 and education secretary for 10 months before.
He was also chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster – which saw him help coordinate the funeral of Queen Elizabeth – and the chairman of the Conservatives for Rishi Sunak.
However, Sunak sacked Zahawi over a multimillion-pound tax row which saw the chairman commit a ‘serious breach’ of the ministerial code.
Zahawi, a wealthy businessman of Iraqi Kurdish descent, failed to disclose an HMRC inquiry into his taxes and agreed to pay £5 million to settle it.
In 2013, it emerged taxpayers were paying for the electricity supply to his stables after Zahawi put in a £5,822.27 expenses claim.
He added in his statement: ‘My mistakes have been mine and my successes have come from working with amazing people.’
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