Sunak was warned of Zahawi reputational risk in October, say sources

PM allegedly given advice about inquiry into minister’s taxes when he appointed him Tory party chair

Rishi Sunak was told there could be a reputational risk to the government from Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs when he appointed him as Conservative party chair in October, sources have told the Observer.

During the period when the prime minister was drawing up his new cabinet, senior government officials gave him informal advice about the risks from an HMRC investigation that had been settled just months earlier, sources said.