Rt Hon Nadhim Zahawi
Former Member of Parliament for Stratford on Avon
Nadhim was born in Baghdad to Kurdish parents in 1967. Under threat of persecution from Saddam Hussein’s regime, his family immigrated to the UK when he was 9.
In 2000 he founded YouGov, a leading market research company and floated the company on the London Stock Exchange in 2005.
In January 2010 he stood down from YouGov to run for election as Member of Parliament for Stratford-on-Avon.
In 2011 he co-authored Masters of Nothing with fellow MP Matt Hancock.
In January 2018 Theresa May appointed Nadhim as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children and Families at the Department for Education. He held this position until July 2019 when he was appointed by Boris Johnson as Minister for Business and Industry at BEIS. In November 2020, Nadhim was also made Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment.
In the September 2021 reshuffle Nadhim was appointed Secretary of State for Education and in July 2022 the Prime Minister appointed Nadhim as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
On 6 September 2022, Liz Truss appointed Nadhim as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Minister for Intergovernmental Relations and Minister for Equalities and on 25 October, new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak appointed Nadhim as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without portfolio in the Cabinet.
In January 2023 Nadhim left Government and returned to the backbenches. In May 2024 he announced he would not be standing again in the next General Election.