Read to find out how many properties the Chairman of the Conservative Party owns.
Chairman of the Conservative Party, Nadim Zahawi has recently been in headlines due to his multi-million-pound tax dispute over the sale of his YouGov shares, and there are even calls to have him removed from his senior cabinet position, which is putting pressure on Prime Minster Rishi Sunak.
Given that Zahawi is one of the wealthier politicians in the cabinet, what is the politician's property portfolio?
Zahawi's track record
Nadim Zahawi is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stratford-on-Avon since 2010. He was first elected as the MP for Stratford-on-Avon in 2010 and has been re-elected in every general election since then. Zahawi has held several positions within the Conservative Party, including the Secretary of State for Education.
In 2020, he was appointed as a Junior Minister in the Department for Parliamentary Under the Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment under PM Boris Johnson. Zahawi is also a co-founder of YouGov, a British market research and data analytics firm, and has served as a director of several other companies in the past. He is of Kurdish-Iraqi origin and was born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1967. He married his wife Lana Zahawi in 2004 and he's a father of 3 children.
Property empire
Although Zahawi hasn't confirmed his exact net worth, it is estimated to be between £30 million to £100 million, reports The Mirror. With that knowledge, it isn't surprising that Zahawi and his wife have essentially built a giant property empire, and The Mirror further reports that more than half of the properties were bought after he became a government minister.
In terms of an abode, Zahawi owns a townhouse in London that's estimated to be £20 million, and a country home with stables. Aside from that, he owns a considerable number of high-street properties alongside an industrial estate. Seven properties that exceed the £10 million bracket are essentially mortgage free, with two of them partially funded by Zahawi's wife through loans.
A firm owned by Zahawi purchased Chunnel industrial estate in Ashford, Kent, for an estimated £3.5 million, and in this area, Zahawi reportedly owns five properties worth at least £17 million each. His country house which includes a stable was purchased for a reported amount of £875,000 in 2011.
His wife, Lana, has an impressive portfolio as well, as she owns two superstores and a plot that has an estimated value of £6.3 million in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire. Additionally, a different firm owned by Zahawi owns land worth £18 million in Brierly Hill, West Midlands and it includes an Asda megastore. The Mirror reports that the property's worth increased by £1.25 million after it was purchased four years ago.
The Mirror had previously reported that there are no indications that Zahawi has breached the Ministerial code, but the recent tax affair may have brought to the surface issues that pertain to his wealth and assets. PM Rishi Sunak has asserted that Zahawi deserves due process, and that the ongoing investigation will reveal further details.
Read more:
⋙ Nadhim Zahawi: How much is the new Chancellor worth?
⋙ Inside Rishi Sunak's No10 flat: Far less glitz than Boris Johnson's
