Sunak faces political headache to replace Zahawi as supporters back Johnson for role

Former PM has the ‘right attributes’ for party chairman, allies say

Boris Johnson’s supporters have suggested he has “all” the qualities needed to become the next Conservative party chairman as Rishi Sunak faces a political headache over how to replace Nadhim Zahawi.

The prime minister dramatically sacked Mr Zahawi from the role following an investigation into his tax arrangements.

The probe, by the prime minister’s ethics adviser, found the former chancellor had committed a “serious breach of the ministerial code” over a multimillion pound tax settlement with HMRC.

Mr Sunak had been under intense pressure from Tory MPs in recent days to fire Mr Zahawi amid fears he would hurt the party’s re-election chances.

Jacob Rees-Mogg was first out of the blocks to suggest Mr Johnson as a possible replacement. The former cabinet minister told GB News he has “all the right attributes” for a party chairman.

“He is charismatic, he rallies the troops. He’s a sort of fully-loaded Conservative. So I think that type of personality would be a very good one for a party chairman,” said Mr Rees-Mogg.

But the PM’s ally added: “I think it’s very difficult to bring back Boris Johnson in a subordinate role because he’s such a big figure that he would dominate any cabinet”, before advising the PM to appoint a chair who is “very close to him politically”.

Michael Portillo said the party should resist the temptation of bringing back Mr Johnson. “He’s an election winner and he’s proved that,” he told GB News. “But let’s remember he is still embroiled in a number of difficult situations. There is no doubt at all that he would overshadow the prime minister … I’d say absolutely not.”

Commons leader Penny Mordaunt, business secretary Grant Shapps and foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell and are reportedly keen on replacing Mr Zahawi at CCHQ. They set out their own party leadership credentials during this week’s cabinet away day at Chequers, according to the Mail.

No 10 would not be drawn on when a replacement would be announced. A source said the prime minister wanted to appoint a new party chair as swiftly as possible.

The role of chairman includes representing the party in the media especially in the run up to votes. With the local elections campaign due to begin within weeks – and a general election looming – MPs initially thought Mr Zahawi was doing a good job.

“He was doing it well, despite the hand he had been dealt – what with the polls horrific at the moment,” one Tory MP told The Independent.

But when the storm broke over his taxes MPs warned it was “unsustainable” to have a party chairman who could not go on television without being asked about his own tax affairs.

Stephen Massey, the party’s chief executive, will step in as interim Tory chair, with Mr Sunak unlikely to appoint a new chairman by the end of Sunday. The PM is understood to be keen for the right person to be appointed.

Mr Sunak now faces a very difficult choice. Mr Zahawi’s sucessor will require someone who can convince Tory MP he can save their jobs, despite polls which consistently show the party trailing 20 points behind Labour.